Newark Police arrested 28-year-old Newark resident Mr. Harold Carter for stealing a pickup truck this morning.
Authorities said at approximately 9:20 a.m., a motorist reported that he parked his 2017 Dodge Ram pickup truck in front of 441 Irvine Turner Boulevard to inspect some property in the area.
According to police, as he exited the truck with the keys in the ignition and the motor running a suspect entered the truck and drove away.
Within minutes a GPS device enabled officers to track the truck to West Runyon Street.
Police said as the officers were driving down the street, they saw a truck matching the stolen vehicle’s description parked in a driveway with the truck’s driver removing the license plate and replacing it with a temporary tag.
Police confirmed it was the stolen Dodge pickup truck and immediately arrested the suspect, who was identified as Harold Carter.
Police charged Carter with Receiving Stolen Auto, Receiving Stolen Property, and Resisting Arrest after it was determined that he wasn’t the owner of the temporary tag.
Carter did not live at the residence where he parked the truck to change the license plate police said.
These charges are merely accusations.
The suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
“This is yet another example in which a car was stolen due to the negligence of the driver,” Director Ambrose said.
“We continue to urge drivers to never leave their car running and unattended, not even for a second; which this driver can admit is all it takes to steal a vehicle with the keys in it", Director Ambrose said.
Police said this year so far, 202 of 1,337 or 15 percent of cars stolen in Newark were left running.”