A Chicago man has been arrested after stopping to ask the police directions in a stolen car, Chicago’s NBC affiliate reports.
Lafayette Moore was taken into custody on Friday for charges of motor vehicle theft, Joliet, Illinois police said in a statement. Per the police, an officer was investigating a crash when Moore approached the scene in a car and asked the officer for directions to Interstate 80. The officer gave Moore directions but then realized that the car matched the description of a vehicle stolen earlier in the afternoon. After verifying that the car was stolen, Moore was arrested without incident.
According to police reports, Moore stole the unidentified vehicle from a BP Amoco gas station in East Joliet at around 4 p.m. on Friday. The owner told the police that he left his car running and unlocked while he went inside to purchase items. When he returned, his car was gone. The 35-year-old Moore is now in custody at the Will County Jail where he is being held on a $20,000 bail.
Leaving a car running has become a theme in car thefts. In January, Ludacris reported his car stolen in Atlanta. Like the Illinois victim, the rapper left his car running while using an ATM and the thief jumped in his Mercedes-Benz. Luda’s whip was one of 99 cars that had been stolen in Atlanta that month. Most of these cars were taken while left running and unattended.
