Michelle Toney hadn’t recovered from the shock of her car being stolen when police issued her a ticket immediately after she found it.
The Tennessee woman watched in fear as a man hopped out of a car and into hers before driving away. “I just, like, I was frozen, shook, scared,” she told WHBQ. “I got scared because I don’t know; I don’t know if he has a weapon, but I was like, ‘Please, please, like please just leave my car alone.'”
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Police stated the theft occurred shortly after 8 p.m. on Sunday when Toney was driving for a food delivery service. She left her car running and ran into a Hickory Hill restaurant to grab an order. When she came back, she saw that a white Honda Accord had blocked her car in.
The white Honda Accord the suspect was driving, which came up behind Toney’s car, had also been stolen earlier that evening.
According to the police, the driver of a second white car stopped to ask Toney if she was okay and if she had left anything in her car.
Minutes later, police claimed Toney’s car had been found with a flat tire and minor damage.
“I literally found out maybe it wasn’t long, maybe like within the next 30 minutes, that my car was down, basically right down the street and abandoned in a parking lot,” Toney said.
However, she received a citation for leaving her car running outside the restaurant. Memphis Police told her that she had violated a Tennessee law that states, in part, “No person driving or in charge of a motor vehicle shall permit it to stand unattended without first stopping the engine, locking the ignition, removing the key, and effectively setting the brake.”
Toney said that she would soon get her car back. However, she noted that she had learned her lesson.
“It was a humbling experience because you always think it’ll never happen to you,” she remarked.
According to the outlet, it’s unclear whether any arrests were made.
