Jeep With 'Severely Mangled' Front End Found Crashed Into Retaining Wall

A 26-year-old Winder woman claims her boyfriend stole her parents' vehicle after the pair had an argument.

A Winder police officer located the Jeep Grand Cherokee with a "severely mangled" front end, both airbags deployed and the horn blaring near a Monroe Highway gas station. The Jeep, the officer noted, "had obviously impacted a retaining wall along the back driveway which leads to 2nd Street."  

The officer located a bill of sale in the glove box and was about to call the owners when they arrived at the scene. The owners said their daughter had just returned to their residence claiming the Jeep had been stolen. The mother said they didn't immediately notify policy because she "wanted to see if the vehicle was in fact stolen and the story was not a lie" told by her daughter.

According to the mother, the daughter claimed she and her boyfriend stopped at the Kangaroo on East May Street just before 10 p.m. on Dec. 13. The woman said she went inside the store and while she was inside her boyfriend drove away in the vehicle. The daughter did not accompany her parents to the scene. The officer asked the parents to have her daughter come to the police department to give her side of the story and so that she could provide a written statement.

The officer attempted to make contact with the boyfriend, but was unable to locate him. As of the time of the incident report, the officer intended to charge the boyfriend with one count of damage to property for causing more than $500 in damage to the Jeep but was "withholding taking the charge of theft by taking until [the daughter] begins to cooperate and give a written statement as the Jeep was taken from her custody. She did not contact me or arrive at the police station when requested."  

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See also:

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• Winder Man Injured in Motorcycle Accident