I had a friend who was interested in buying my car, I gave him the key and left the registration in the car but took the tags. I knew the guy and trusted him to pay me. After 3 months, he still hadn't paid me so I told him I was coming to pick it up. He told me that he was going to park the car on the street leave the keys in the car so it would get stolen. He lives an hour away, I checked the apartment he lives in and the car is gone. He won't answer his door or the phone.
I talked to the cops and they said that since I left the car with him, there was not much they could do. Can anyone give me some advice on what I can do? Thanks.
Why did you just give him your car keys? You can't trust anyone - that's obvious now.
I feel like they could charge the guy with unauthorized use of a vehicle. My ex husband took my car without permission before and I was told since I know who took it, it wasn't stolen. It was "unauthorized use of a vehicle." I found this in Google: " "unlawful use of a means of transportation."
Found this:
Ohio law also prohibits joyriding—using or operating a motor vehicle without the consent of the owner or driver. Unlike the thief, the joyrider does not intend to keep the vehicle from the owner indefinitely. Ohio's joyriding law—called unauthorized use of a vehicle—would apply to a child who takes a sibling's car, without permission, for a ride to a friend's home and back.
A person who joyrides commits a first-degree
misdemeanor and faces up to 180 days in
jail and a fine of up to $1,000. The law allows for harsher penalties in the following circumstances:
- the defendant leaves the state with the vehicle
- the defendant possesses the vehicle for more than 48 hours, or
- the victim is part of a protected class, including elderly, disabled, and active duty military or spouses.
Any one of these circumstances elevates the crime to a fifth-degree felony, with penalties of six to 12 months' prison time and a fine of up to $2,500. If the victim is an elderly person or disabled adult
and the crime results in a financial loss for the victim, the offender faces up to a second-degree felony, which carries up to eight years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000. The penalty is based on the amount of the financial loss to the victim.
(Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2913.03, 2929.14, 2929.18, 2929.24, 2929.28 (2020).)