Car thief calls taxi after struggling to drive stick shift, police say


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LOGAN — A man was arrested after stealing a car he couldn’t drive Tuesday, police said.

At first, the owner of the stolen car thought his vehicle was missing because someone was playing a joke on him, according to Logan police Chief Gary Jensen. When the young man couldn’t find his car around the corner, he decided to look elsewhere.

“So he and his girlfriend got in her car and were literally going to the brother’s house to see if he had taken it as a prank,” Jensen said. “While they’re on the way to the brother’s house, they see the car being driven by someone they clearly don’t recognize and it’s at that point they realize this is actually an auto theft.”

He said detectives were in the area when the car owner called. Meanwhile, the person driving the stolen car was struggling because he didn’t know how to drive a car with a manual transmission, according to Jensen.

Alexander Katz, 19, and a female passenger abandoned the car at a local grocery store before heading to a Maverik convenience store to call a cab, according to Jensen. He said a foot pursuit began when the detectives spotted the duo waiting for a ride.

Katz was arrested on suspicion of receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, a second-degree felony, and failure to stop at the command of law enforcement. The female passenger, who is a juvenile, was also taken into custody.

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