Evansville Woman Arrested for Stealing Car
Police on Friday arrested a woman who allegedly stole a car out of a man's garage and nearly crashed it on Interstate 25.
Kimberly Dawn Montoya, 48, was booked into jail on a recommended charge of burglary. She will likely make her initial appearance in Natrona County Circuit Court at 2 p.m. Monday.
Court documents say the owner of the car went to the Casper Police Department at 9 a.m. Friday to report the car had been stolen out of his garage while he was gone for a short period of time.
The keys, the man said, had probably been in the glovebox. He had left his garage open when he left in another vehicle to get some exercise.
The vehicle was described as a tan, four-door 2001 Toyota.
At about 3 p.m. that afternoon, the investigating officer was contacted by a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper who had stopped the Toyota on I-25 near milepost 192. The Toyota was driven by Montoya.
According to the affidavit, staff at Central Wyoming Counseling Center had reported Montoya in the vehicle earlier that day. Shortly before noon Friday, an "attempt to locate" had been called in concerning the Toyota, with the driver reported as a dark-haired woman driving erratically.
At the scene of the traffic stop on I-25 northbound, the Casper police officer spoke with the state trooper. The trooper had seen the Toyota speeding eastbound on the bypass, so he followed and later saw the vehicle headed north on I-25 at 92 mph.
The trooper said he watched the Toyota nearly crash just before milepost 192, and the trooper commenced a traffic stop at Exit 192.
Montoya reportedly told the trooper she had borrowed the vehicle from her grandmother and intended to return it in half an hour.
Montoya was arrested. She declined to speak with police regarding the incident.
The Toyota was returned to its rightful owner.