Redding, California
21-year-old
Michael Heller has not had a very good 2013. A records search through the
Shashta County Government website reveals that during the past 12 months, he
had a few felony charges. One of these involved him
stealing another person's vehicle.
Now before you automatically assume that Michael is some kind of colossal douchebag who is constantly making poor life decisions, he may not be all bad. For starters, the guy was all types of determined to show up for the court date related to his pending auto theft charge.
Unfortunately, the court house was a
little over 5 miles from his home. Since Michael had already attempted (and failed) to steal a car before, one would assume that he did not have any viable mode of transportation to get there. This might be why at approximately 8:30 AM on December 12, 2013, Michael noticed that
69-year-old John Westberg had left his 1989 Ford Ranger unattended and decided that walking five miles to just to hear a guilty verdict wasn't worth it.
Before Mr. Westberg could yell at the carjacking punk to get off his lawn, Michael hopped into the vehicle and drove off. The police were called immediately and caught up with him
20 minutes later (or 4 hours later
depending on which report you read).
When asked why he took Mr. Westberg's truck, Michael simply replied that he "
needed a ride to court."
He was also found
less than a mile from his home in the opposite direction of the courthouse. This may seem like a clear indication that Michael planned on keeping the truck. But since it was a 1989 model Ford pickup, there's an equally good chance that the vehicle had simply started rolling backwards after the engine unexpectedly cut out.
Michael Heller was
arrested and charged with vehicle theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, and forcing the police to use redundant crime classifications.
Hopefully someone can give him a ride to jail.
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