A woman whose last known address was in O’Fallon has been charged with a felony after allegedly failing to return a car she was given permission to drive when the owner was arrested in Warrenton.
Danielle N. Meyers was charged Sept. 16 with first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle. A man reported to Warrenton police that Meyers was with him when he was arrested at approximately 2 a.m. June 8, and that he gave Meyers permission to drive his car to his mother’s house in Warrenton for safekeeping.
When the man was released the next day, however, he found that the car, a 2005 gold Chevrolet Malibu, was not at his mother’s house, and Meyers had left Warrenton, according to a probable cause statement.
The man contacted Meyers and arranged for her to leave the Malibu at Walmart in O’Fallon. She did not do so, however, so he reported the car stolen, and she ended contact with him.
Police reviewed automated license plate reader data and found the Malibu’s plate had been photographed in north St. Louis County shortly after the victim’s arrest. “The following day, the vehicle can be observed in the area multiple times throughout the day,” according to the statement. “At no point in time does the vehicle return to Warrenton.”
Meyers, born in 1985, has a lengthy criminal history, with past felony convictions for drug possession and burglary, as well as currently pending drug-related charges, according to online court records.
The probable cause statement, written in late June, additionally notes that Meyers’ whereabouts were unknown and her last known residence had been vacated. A warrant for her arrest, with her bond set at $10,000 cash only, was issued Sept. 17.
