FRENCH QUARTER--A woman from French Quarter had her car stolen on Monday night, but got it back Tuesday morning at around 11:30am in dramatic circumstances after she saw the suspect driving her car.
The woman who preferred not to give her name out of concern for her family’s safety said her 2019 silver Kia Picanto was stolen near the Spring, French Quarter, where the former Gendarmerie used to be, sometime between 1:00am and 4:30am.
“After I woke up and noticed the car was gone I was able to borrow a friend’s car to search for it because I was determined to get it back. I decided not to go to work,” she explained. “With luck I saw my car being driven by the thief because I have markings on the car that identifies the car as mine. Then when I got closer to the car in the Madame Estate area my Bluetooth connected with the car automatically while I was talking on the phone to a family member.
“I called out to the man to stop and pull over which he did initially but realising the Bluetooth connection proved the car was mine, he tried to escape. At that moment I rammed my own car with the borrowed car to stop him but he still managed to get away.
“Then I called the Dutch side police to give them a description of him and my car and put out an alert on social media. The police found my car near the pharmacy in Dutch quarter. Unfortunately they didn’t catch the suspect as he escaped on foot.”
With both cars damaged in the altercation, the victim faces expensive repair costs to both vehicles. The thief had switched the Dutch side number plates on her car, a rear window panel was broken, a different car computer was connected, and other changes made inside.
“I estimate the repairs to be around US$3,000 because I have to do the bodywork, replace the key switch, the computer and battery. I will go back to the dealer because I want the original parts for my own safety. We found out the computer the thief installed was not for Kia. The owner of the borrowed car understood the situation and is not in a rush for his repairs.”
From her description, she said the police know that the suspect is a repeat offender and is well known to them.
