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WOODS CROSS — The search continues for a man who took a test drive at a car dealership in Woods Cross and never returned. The entire thing was caught on surveillance video and the man is reported to have left his driver’s license behind as collateral.
The surveillance video from Front Line Auto Sales at 930 South and 500 West shows the man looking at cars like any typical customer. He then walked inside the business and asked to test drive the 2017 Toyota Corolla.
Carlos Urvina, the finance manager, says he didn’t see anything odd about the situation as he was helping him.
“Everything seemed normal,” said Urvina who then had him provide the proper documentation including his drivers license in order to take the car on a test drive.
The video shows the man then getting in the car and taking off. Unfortunately, he never returned.
“I don’t understand why someone would think, oh I’m just going to take this car from the dealership. It doesn’t click in my mind, it doesn’t make sense,” said Urvina to KSL.
Gustavo Valdovinos who owns the dealership says he’s never had any problems like this in the three and a half years he’s owned the dealership. He says they are just a small operation with about 35 cars on the lot so losing a $13,000 car is a big hit for them.
“A car means a lot. It’s not like we have 300 cars out there that we could say hey it’s okay,” said Valdovinos. “I’m just trying to put food on the table. That’s what it is at the end of the day, trying to take care of your family. You aren’t expecting a $13,000 loss any day.”
Seen this man?? Police looking for this man who stole a car from a dealership in Davis County @KSL5TVpic.twitter.com/0pR4VphVAf
— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) January 7, 2020
By late afternoon on Tuesday there was a new development in the case. An officer spotted the stolen car abandoned in a church parking lot in North Salt Lake. Police tell KSL it was undamaged but they are still searching for the man.
“It does seem pretty bold to leave a drivers license that belongs to you to commit a theft, to commit a crime,” said Sgt. Dan Schultz with the Woods Cross Police Dept.
Police say they did check out the address on the drivers license and relatives of the suspect do live there, but have no idea where he is.
“Maybe this is just one of those things he’s struggling with in life and he will learn from it and come out of it,” said Valdovinos.
