A Leesburg man was arrested for theft after failing to return a rented Dodge Durango to Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
An officer responded to Enterprise, located at 1725 Mt. Vernon Road, regarding a vehicle theft at 10 a.m. Feb. 24, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department.
Upon arrival, the officer met with the manager on site who advised that she had a customer, identified as 26-year-old Markwez Lamar Chatman, fail to return a rented vehicle. He rented a 2022 Dodge Durango and she tried to contact him on Feb. 8, 10 and 11 to inform him of the overdue rented vehicle but was unsuccessful, the report said.
The Risk Department sent a letter of demand to Chatman’s address on file, which indicated it was delivered by FedEx on Feb. 14. The manager stated the vehicle had an estimated value of $52,654. The officer tried to make contact with the phone number that was provided but was met with negative results, as well, the report said.
The manager also provided copies of the rental agreement along with the demand letter and notification from FedEx of the demand letter being delivered. Due to this, the officer had probable cause for Chatman’s arrest, the report said.
At about 5:45 p.m. that same day, the LPD received a “License Plate Recognition” hit on the stolen vehicle at Center and North 14th Street. The officer conducted a traffic stop to identify the driver and saw it was Chatman. He was read his rights, after which he admitted to being told they were going to report the car as stolen, the report said.
Chatman was arrested on charge of theft (fail to redeliver hired/rented vehicle). He was transported to Lake County Jail and released after posting $2,500 bond.