A Mount Dora woman was arrested on a warrant Tuesday for keeping a U-Haul truck for months after the lease allowed.
On July 11, officers with the Leesburg Police Department arrived at a U-Haul, located at 1015 W. North Blvd., and spoke with the field manager, according to an affidavit of probable cause out of Lake County.
The manager reported a vehicle for which 50-year-old Ida Jones, the renter who did not abide by the rental agreement, did not return it two days after the contract was signed. The written contract was signed May 20 with the agreement that the vehicle would be returned May 12, the affidavit said.
On July 15, an LPD detective called and spoke with the manager. He stated that to date, the vehicle had not been returned. The approximate value of the loss was $54,000, the affidavit said.
The manager explained that on May 10, Jones came into his business and provided her Florida ID. She verbally and in writing agreed to the terms of the truck lease, which outlined that the truck would be returned to the facility on or before May 12, the affidavit said.
The manager first attempted contact on May 15 to try to recover the U-Haul truck. The detective asked if he ever made contact with Jones, to which he stated that he called several times with no ability to leave a message and no answer. A demand letter was sent through FedEx on June 20, but this was refused and returned to sender, the affidavit said.
The manager also went to the address Jones listed, but she no longer lived there. The detective tried to contact her last employer, Mattress One, instead. The three locations he called in Leesburg, Mount Dora and Eustis were no longer in business, the affidavit said.
The detective talked to the manager again on July 24 to confirm he was still unable to make contact with Jones. The manager informed him that the truck was involved in a hit-and-run accident on 900 S. 14th St., but the accident was never reported. U-Haul subsequently gave the detective the accident victim’s information, the affidavit said.
The detective contacted the accident victim who stated a woman matching Jones’ description was driving the U-Haul when it struck his vehicle and sped away before contact was made. This accident happened at about 6:32 a.m. May 24, the affidavit said.
Jones was ultimately arrested Tuesday morning by the Mount Dora Police Department on a warrant charging her with failure to return leased property. The Michigan native was transported to Lake County Jail and released after posting $5,000 bond.