Lang
8/21/19
A West Liberty man faces charges that he stole an SUV that was left running outside of an Iowa City convenience store.
According to arrest records, the victim left her 2015 Ford Explorer running outside the Muscatine Avenue Kum & Go just after 11:15 Tuesday night. 30-year-old Jose Mata Hernandez of the Cline’s Mobile Village manufactured housing community on A Street allegedly jumped into the vehicle and drove it several blocks before parking it. Police located him standing at the driver’s side front door with the keys on his person. His baseball cap was found inside the vehicle.
Mata Hernandez is barred from driving until August of 2021.
The estimated value of the SUV is $27,000.
Mata Hernandez is charged with 1st Degree Theft and Driving While Barred. If convicted on both charges, he faces a maximum of 12 years in prison.