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Judge tosses charges against woman who kept rental car

A magisterial district court judge has tossed theft charges against a Williamsburg woman who kept a rental car for three months.

Allegheny Township police filed felony charges of theft of leased property, receiving stolen property and theft by unlawful taking, along with a misdemeanor count of unauthorized use of a motorized vehicle, against Sylvia Gregory, 26, of Williamsburg on May 12 after a three-month saga involving Gregory and a rental car from Blue Knob Auto in Duncansville.

Blue Knob Auto Operations Manager Jeremy Nagle told Magisterial District Judge Steven Jackson that renting cars isn’t a big part of its business, but it does have a fleet of 10 vehicles it rents through its service department as a courtesy to customers. Nagle stressed the insurance carried by the business doesn’t allow for renting cars more than 30 days, so most are very short-term, day-to-day rentals.

Gregory was accused by Nagle of dodging phone calls after the company tried getting her to return the vehicle, which she rented at a rate of $30 a day on March 9. After two weeks had passed, Nagle said the clerk who rented the car came to him to say he was concerned because he couldn’t reach Gregory. As toll booth violations in three states started rolling in to the dealership — 18 in all — they became extremely concerned and tried in vain to get Gregory to return the car.

She allegedly told Blue Knob Auto personnel she would bring it back when she was contacted after two weeks, Nagle said, but when calls were placed to her after that, she never answered and her voicemail was full. “We were trying to give her every opportunity to bring the car back,” Nagle said.

After a letter was sent out and delivered in early May giving Gregory seven days to return the 2015 Toyota Corolla, Gregory called the business and said she would return it the next day. Nagle said she didn’t, and when the seven days expired a few days later on May 12, police filed charges, and Gregory was arrested at her job in Duncansville while police impounded the car.

“The vehicle looked like it had been lived in,” Nagle said, telling the court that costs to the company — excluding damage to the car — equaled $3,979.85. An oral estimate of the exterior damage to the car was $4,500, he said. Nagle said the fees for the car rental per day were $30, with 10 cents a mile tacked on if daily mileage exceeded 50 miles. Gregory put on close to 10,000 miles in 66 days and racked up hundreds in toll booth violations.

Assistant Public Defender Julia Burke’s line of questioning with Nagle tried to reveal if the clerk who completed the rental transaction — who was not present at the hearing — had done everything according to company protocol. Burke also put Gregory on the stand to further state that while her client did keep the car for 66 days, she had no intention of keeping it and was under the impression the rental agreement was a casual one where she could keep the car as long as she needed it.

Gregory testified she had personal issues to deal with in New Jersey during the time she had the car and said when she rented it, she never got a copy of the agreement and was only asked to sign for it with the clerk saying he would give her a copy of the form when she returned the car. She said she talked to the clerk during the time she had the car and was told it was no problem if she kept it longer.

Assistant District Attorney Ilissa Zimmerman questioned how she didn’t see where right above her signature were the words where it said the rental could not surpass 30 days, to which Gregory said, “But they said I could keep it.”

Gregory said she delayed getting the car back because she had been in an accident and was told by the clerk she needed to have the damage fixed before returning it, something Nagle disputed in his testimony when he explained the rental agreement stated she was to contact Blue Knob Auto immediately after an accident.

As for the toll booth violations — where Gregory drove through the EZ Pass lane and was hit with fines a total of 18 times — she took full responsibility.

The case came down to whether Gregory intended to steal the car, Jackson said before making his decision. Jackson said he didn’t believe Gregory intended to steal the car.

“If I have to believe there was no intent to: a) steal the car and b) use it unauthorized, then it is difficult to believe it is theft of leased property, too,” Jackson said. “So, I am dismissing the case in its entirety, and it can be filed civilly.”

Mirror Staff Writer Greg Bock is at 946-7458.

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