Couple steals a car so they can make court date in timely fashion

If you’re due in court, make sure the manner in which you arrive to said court is not illegal. Even if you didn’t do that thing you’re being charged with doing, the fact that you did something else illegal will get you in trouble. That’s the lesson James Manning and Teresa Castillo of California learned, according to The Modesto Bee.

Last Friday afternoon, a dealership in Redding, California called police because a 2001 Mitsubishi had been stolen from their lot. A global positioning system (GPS) device on the car indicated that it was parked in front of the Tuolumne County Courthouse. When police arrived at the courthouse they found the car and discovered the license plates had been changed. They waited and saw 45-year-old Teresa Castillo approach the car. When police approached her, she told them that she and her husband, 49-year-old James Manning, had bought the car for $200 earlier in the day so they could make his court appearance.

The Bee says that when police found Manning, who was in court because of a charge of possession of a controlled substance, he admitted he had stolen the car after initially denying it. The car was searched, and hey guess what – they found marijuana inside. Castillo and Manning were booked into Tuolumne County Jail on felony charges of possession of stolen property and possession of a controlled substance.