Eureka Police found a silver 2006 Toyota Highlander that had been reported stolen out of Sunset Hills. The SUV was recovered at t 10:54 p.m. Dec. 19, when an officer saw it with the rear hatch open in a remote part of the parking lot at Walmart, 131 Eureka Towne Center Drive, Capt. David Wilson said.
The officer also saw an unidentified woman walking toward the store and away from the Highlander and stopped her to warn her about the open rear hatch. When the woman was asked why the SUV was parked so far away from the store and other vehicles, she said her friend, whom she said owned the Highlander, had parked it there earlier, and she didn’t know why, the report said.
The woman already was wanted on a warrant from the St. Louis County Police Department for failing to transfer license plates on vehicles, and she was arrested and held for St. Louis County Police, the report said.
When officers inspected the Highlander, they saw signs it had been involved in an accident, and the driver-side window had been broken out. There also was glass near the driver-side door, according to the report.
Officers discovered the Highlander had been stolen Dec. 4 in Sunset Hills, and the license plates on the SUV were stolen from St. Louis. The Highlander was turned over to the Sunset Hills Police Department, Wilson said.
On Jan. 3, Wilson said the woman had not been connected to the theft because she was not found in the Highlander. He said no suspects had been identified.
Anyone with information about the SUV should call Eureka Police at 636-938-6600.