A 43-year-old House Springs man was arrested in a pickup that he had taken for a test drive but did not return to a woman who was selling it. The man was arrested twice after allegedly stealing the pickup from a home in the 6000 block of Jim Weber Road in House Springs, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
On March 29, a woman reported that the man had taken a 1995 Ford F-350 she was trying to sell for a test drive on March 27 and had not returned it. She told deputies she had contacted the man through text messages for two days asking him to return with the pickup, the report said.
The man provided numerous excuses for not returning the pickup, including being arrested in St. Louis County before the pickup was reported stolen. St. Louis County Police told the Sheriff’s Office the man was arrested on March 28 while he was driving the stolen car because he was driving with a revoked license, according to the report.
The man, who had been released by St. Louis County pending the application for charges, was arrested again on March 31 by Franklin County Sheriff’s Office deputies in the 8000 block of Hwy. FF in Luebbering. The man was driving the stolen pickup when he was arrested, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office is seeking a tampering charge against the man through the Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Matt Moore said.