Dealership Mistakenly Reports Car As Stolen

FOLSOM, Calif. (CBS13) – A Citrus Heights resident received phone calls and visits from police officers after a loaner vehicle from his car dealer was mistakenly reported stolen.

Curtis Tustison said he had to return an SUV to the Triple Crown Auto lot in Folsom a day after he bought it after loud noises began rattling out of the back of the vehicle, but after driving a replacement Honda for a week, he received a call from the dealership asking where he parked it.

"I said, 'Is everything okay?' Because it seemed awkward that I was getting a phone call to wonder where the loaner was," Tustison said. "He said it wasn't a big deal and basically left it at that."

Another phone call soon came. This time, the Citrus Heights Police Department wanted to know where the car was located; Triple Crown had reported it stolen.

Tustison said officers warned him that "if I was in the vehicle, even sitting in the vehicle, I would be pulled out at gunpoint."

Officers paid Tustison a visit at his work and questioned him for hours in front of his employees.

Triple Crown sales manager Tony Karbowski said someone misplaced the paperwork that showed Curtis was driving the Honda, and when employees didn't see the vehicle in the lot, they reported it stolen. It took three days before the dealer caught the mistake.

Karbowski said he has never heard of any similar mix-up happening at the dealership before.

Dealer representatives said they apologized to Tustison for the mistake and have implemented new procedures to prevent it from happening again.

Tustison will receive his SUV Wednesday and hand back the Honda.