GREENFIELD — A judge has dismissed a case involving a woman accused of auto theft after a thief using her identification stole a vehicle during a test drive.
Kristen T. Parr, 24, Speedway, who spent four nights in jail while the police sorted out the confusion, is no longer charged with auto theft, a Level 6 felony, in Hancock County.
The charge stemmed from a report of an auto theft at West Main Auto Sales on Sept. 27.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
The business, 1200 W. Main St., reported a woman took a 2010 GMC Acadia on a test drive and never returned, according to an affidavit. Before the test drive, the business made a copy of an ID the driver provided, which indicated she was Parr.
Video surveillance was initially unavailable. Greenfield Police Chief Jeff Rasche said the ID the thief provided may have been altered.
“I really can’t say for sure whether or not that is even Kristen in the picture,” Rasche added. “It almost looks like they may have dropped another picture on the ID.”
When describing the auto thief to police, employees at the car lot said it was the same person on Parr’s driver’s license.
“The officer was relying solely on eyewitnesses — two employees of the car lot — who said the person is the same person on Kristen’s driver’s license,” Rasche said.
Based on that information, police obtained a warrant and arrested Parr at her home in Speedway the night of Thursday, Oct. 3. With courts closed Oct. 4 for the Riley Festival and Parr’s warrant requiring her to be held without bond, she had to wait until Monday, Oct. 7, to be heard.
Parr’s brother, Jacob O’Dell of Franklin, took to social media over the weekend to raise awareness about his sister’s situation. He told the Daily Reporter that Parr’s purse was stolen in February at Circle Centre Mall in Indianapolis. Before the Greenfield theft, someone used her ID before stealing two vehicles during test drives, both from Indianapolis auto dealers, O’Dell continued. He said that on each occasion, police reached out to Parr. When they learned her ID had been stolen, they didn’t charge her.
O’Dell said Parr received notice of her arrest warrant from the Greenfield Police Department on Oct. 3. Parr then called GPD and arranged to meet with a detective on the evening of Oct. 7 to discuss her stolen ID and how she had been cleared of two similar accusations, O’Dell said.
But then, local law enforcement arrived at her Speedway home later that night to arrest her and transport her to Greenfield, where she was booked into the Hancock County Jail.
Rasche said no one at GPD spoke with her.
“None of my detectives have been contacted by her,” Rasche said. “We have not been contacted by her period… She did not have an appointment with us.”
Parr appeared via video from the jail in Hancock County Superior Court 2 Monday while her attorney, Larry Whitham, appeared in person. Marie Castetter, the county’s chief deputy prosecutor, represented the state. Judge Dan Marshall granted Castetter’s motion to dismiss the case.
Castetter told the Daily Reporter that police contacted her late Oct. 4 about new information being received regarding Parr’s case.
“Of course we always want to get the right person in custody,” Castetter said. “…With what we know now, I think it warrants further investigation, so we felt the right thing to do was to dismiss it, work with law enforcement for further investigation and see what happens then.”
Rasche agreed. When security camera video became available on the morning of Oct. 7, Rasche acknowledged there were “no similarities” between the suspect and Parr.
“We’re taking this investigation in a completely different direction now,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, it really is, the fact that she is the victim here and she had to spend a long weekend in jail because of the Riley Festival.”
Rasche said he supports everything that the investigating officer did in the case.
“It wasn’t until she was already in custody that we got this information and learned she was a victim,” Rasche said.
Attempts to reach Parr for comment were unsuccessful.
O’Dell said he was relieved by the judge’s decision.
“The whole family’s just been on edge about this all week,” he said. “An innocent person sitting in Hancock County Jail for no reason… This is a perfect example of somebody doing everything right and the system just failing them.”
