An Ocala woman turned herself in to Lake County Jail on Monday morning regarding the theft of a rental car from Enterpise Rental in Leesburg.
Aiyanna Deshaun Hawkins, 21, was charged with theft after failing to return a black 2022 Toyota Camry to the rental agency in September. A warrant out of Lake County was issued in October after Enterprise contacted the Leesburg Police Department about the situation.
On the afternoon of Oct. 5, an LPD officer responded to Enterprise, located at 1725 Mt. Vernon Road, in reference to the auto theft. The manager advised that Hawkins came into the agency on Sept. 12 and rented a vehicle for three days, which was supposed to be returned Sept. 15. It was not returned on the scheduled date, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Employees tried calling Hawkins on Sept. 18, 20 and 21 with no answer. They documented two drive bys of her address on Sept. 20 and 21 with no sightings of the vehicle. A demand letter was sent to her address on Sept. 25 which also got no response, the affidavit said.
According to the manager, Enterprise’s Risk Management Department got in touch with Hawkins sometime near the end of September. She initially told them the vehicle had been stolen but then stated she rented the vehicle for someone else. She did not know where it was at the time, the affidavit said.
As a result, the vehicle was listed as stolen. At about 4:30 p.m. that same day, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office advised that they recovered the vehicle at the Microtel Inn & Suites, located at 1770 Southwest 134th Street in Ocala. The vehicle was to be processed for latent fingerprints, and the manager was told the vehicle was recovered, the affidavit said.
Once Hawkins turned herself in this week, she was charged with theft (failure to return hired/leased property). The Illinois native was released from Lake County Jail after posting $2,000 bond.
