Theft of Automobile: Continued without a Finding

Female went to automobile dealership to test drive vehicle. She wrote check for down payment on car and left dealership with vehicle based on promise to return and complete finance paperwork. Female never returned with car and check bounced. Dealership placed several calls and sent several certified letters to female to request that car be returned. When these attempts were unsuccessful, dealership notified authorities. Police located the female who was found to be in possession of the stolen automobile. She was then arrested and charged with theft of an automobile. At pretrial, successfully negotiated this felony charge be reduced to misdemeanor charge of unauthorized use of automobile.

RESULT: The matter was continued without a finding for 12 months with no criminal conviction imposed.