Man who never returned his Idaho Falls rental car arrested in Tennessee
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IDAHO FALLS — A 41-year-old Texas man was arrested after he allegedly failed to return a vehicle to a local car rental business after he said he needed it for a family emergency.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed by the Idaho Falls Police Department, an officer was dispatched to Enterprise Rent-A-Car off of Northgate Mile at 1 p.m. on July 20 to take a theft report on a rented vehicle that had not been returned.
A manager told the officer the company rented a 2021 Hyundai Sonata to Justin McMurtry on July 6. The vehicle was supposed to be returned the next day but it never came back.
The company reached out to McMurtry by email demanding he return the car. According to documents, he responded back via text message on July 14 saying he had a family emergency and had to drive his mother back to Texas. He said he would have the car returned the next day.
McMurtry again failed to return the vehicle and the company sent out a final demand letter on July 15.
Police began investigating and an officer tried calling McMurtry but got his voicemail.
“I left a message telling him the car has now been reported stolen and that charges are being submitted for grand theft. McMurtry lives out of state and is not returning my phone calls. I am requesting a warrant for grand theft,” the officer wrote.
A spokeswoman with the Idaho Falls Police Department told EastIdahoNews.com that they had marked the vehicle as stolen in a national database. Police were then contacted by a trooper in Tennessee who had performed a traffic stop on the vehicle and took McMurtry into custody for possession of the stolen property. He was then transferred to the Bonneville County jail.
McMurtry is charged with felony grand theft and bond was set at $50,000. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. at the Bonneville County Courthouse.