Falsely Accused of Grand Theft of a Motor Vehicle

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida.
I am a Business owner and was subcontracting for another small business doing Service Repair work. The owner requested I do his work with his wrapped vehicle to promote his business. He had me Title, Tag, and insure the vehicle in my name. The vehicle was also a take home van for personal and business use. A few months ago we had a heated argument at his office and I left with the van to remove my tools, parts, and equipment and bring it back to quit. A few min later he calls screaming he's gonna call the cops if I didn't bring the vehicle back to him immediately. I told him to relax and I would bring it back as soon as I had my stuff cleaned out. Another few min later I get a call from the local PD asking where I was and when was I going to bring the vehicle back to the Owner. I told them technically I was the owner since he had put the title,tag,and Insurance in my name. I told them he could pick it up from my attorney. (Here is my Mistake) I had forgotten I had signed the title and had given it back to him at an earlier date. Apparently without my knowledge he had re-titled and tagged the vehicle 15 days earlier without my knowledge but it was still insured in my name.

A few weeks ago he texted me saying he was sorry about the way things ended and he was dropping everything.

Apparently this was not the case because a few nights ago I was arrested on an out of county warrant for Grand theft 3rd deg.

IMO and everyone else's opinion that I talk to say this should have been handled differently and is a civil matter because I can't "steal" what I think is mine or am allowed to use.

I don't have a lot of $$$ to hire an attorney because I just had a baby and are in the middle of closing on a house.

Please someone advise what I should do next. What can I file? I have a copy of the title in my name and insurance.

Your problem is the van was NOT yours. You signed it back over to him and he retitled it. It was his.
You're also wrong that you can't be guilty of grand theft if you had authorized use. Once he told you to bring that van back, authorization ended.
Your best bet is to see if he can convince the prosecutor that you were still authorized to have it during the period you possessed it and that this is a misunderstanding.
You're charged with a felony. You really DO need that lawyer.

The van was mine for 7+ months. The title was signed open the day I received it 7 months prior to this happening. He also received the van back as soon as my property was removed from it the day this happened. Total time from start to end was like 3hrs. I had no intent to steal anything. The van is questionably even worth 500.00

It matters not if you had the van for 7 YEARS. You transferred the ownership back to him and he asked for you to return his property. It's illegal for you to deprive him of it, EVEN TEMPORARILY.

You're changing your story now. You can make the argument that you returned the van promptly when requested. It's up for the court to decide if there was intent to deprive here, but your insistance that he deal with your attorney and that you apparenlty didn't give it back until the police were involved (even if they appeared disinterested in intervening at the time) doesn't bode well for the argument that you intended to give back his property.

Felonies are serious matters. GET THAT LAWYER INVOVLED.

Felonies are nothing to seenze at. GT3 only requires $300 of valuation. You can get five years for this.

Get a lawyer, resolve the charges, and then sue the guy for false arrest.

Quote:

---

Quoting Anonomous1

---

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida.
I am a Business owner and was subcontracting for another small business doing Service Repair work. The owner requested I do his work with his wrapped vehicle to promote his business. He had me Title, Tag, and insure the vehicle in my name. The vehicle was also a take home van for personal and business use. A few months ago we had a heated argument at his office and I left with the van to remove my tools, parts, and equipment and bring it back to quit. A few min later he calls screaming he's gonna call the cops if I didn't bring the vehicle back to him immediately. I told him to relax and I would bring it back as soon as I had my stuff cleaned out. Another few min later I get a call from the local PD asking where I was and when was I going to bring the vehicle back to the Owner. I told them technically I was the owner since he had put the title,tag,and Insurance in my name. I told them he could pick it up from my attorney. (Here is my Mistake) I had forgotten I had signed the title and had given it back to him at an earlier date. Apparently without my knowledge he had re-titled and tagged the vehicle 15 days earlier without my knowledge but it was still insured in my name.

A few weeks ago he texted me saying he was sorry about the way things ended and he was dropping everything.

Apparently this was not the case because a few nights ago I was arrested on an out of county warrant for Grand theft 3rd deg.

IMO and everyone else's opinion that I talk to say this should have been handled differently and is a civil matter because I can't "steal" what I think is mine or am allowed to use.

I don't have a lot of $$$ to hire an attorney because I just had a baby and are in the middle of closing on a house.

Please someone advise what I should do next. What can I file? I have a copy of the title in my name and insurance.

---

When you opened your mouth and said the bolded is when you screwed yourself over. Had you simply told the PD that you would be returning it as soon as you got your tools out of it, the warrant probably would never have happened. You let your ego get in the way of common sense.

You may still be able to get out of this without too much damage, but you are going to need an attorney.

Quote:

---

Quoting Anonomous1

---

I don't have a lot of $$$ to hire an attorney because I just had a baby and are in the middle of closing on a house.

---

You're going to have even less money if you end up in jail. Get a lawyer. This is a serious charge that needs to be resolved correctly.

Quote:

---

Quoting llworking

---

When you opened your mouth and said the bolded is when you screwed yourself over. Had you simply told the PD that you would be returning it as soon as you got your tools out of it, the warrant probably would never have happened. You let your ego get in the way of common sense.

You may still be able to get out of this without too much damage, but you are going to need an attorney.

---

I did say that and that is what happened. As soon as my stuff was removed I handed it back over to him with a local Police officer present.

Quote:

---

Quoting flyingron

---

It matters not if you had the van for 7 YEARS. You transferred the ownership back to him and he asked for you to return his property. It's illegal for you to deprive him of it, EVEN TEMPORARILY.

You're changing your story now. You can make the argument that you returned the van promptly when requested. It's up for the court to decide if there was intent to deprive here, but your insistance that he deal with your attorney and that you apparenlty didn't give it back until the police were involved (even if they appeared disinterested in intervening at the time) doesn't bode well for the argument that you intended to give back his property.

Felonies are serious matters. GET THAT LAWYER INVOVLED.

Felonies are nothing to seenze at. GT3 only requires $300 of valuation. You can get five years for this.

---

I think you're missing the fact that I was still thinking the vehicle was still in my name...
Had I known he had gone behind my back and re-titled and tagged it. it would have been handled differently. At that Time I still thought I had a vested interest in the vehicle.

Oh, this person no longer owns that company

So you concocted a false ownership to be able to scam somebody somewhere. It was originally his vehicle yet he transferred it to you. You immediately signed the title back over to him yet you apparently continued to scam the state and your insurance company by allowing them to believe the van was still yours.

He was also scamming somebody (sounds like it was you and the fed and state governments)


you really need a lawyer both due to the very serious charges as well as preventing you from getting yourself in deeper for other issues.

You say you can't afford a lawyer. To whom were you referring to when you told the cops the guy could pick up the van from your attorney?

Once you gave him the signed title, it was his. You can spin this all you want but a reasonable person would have known the vehicle was not yours. Further, your other actions, indicate you knew the vehicle is not yours. Your revisionist spin will not win in court. This is why you need an attorney.

You had NO "vested" or other interest in the vehicle. The other person not being involved isn't an issue. Understand this is not a YOU vs. HIM situation. It is society that is harmed by your criminal activity. It is the STATE that is proscecuting you.