A woman from Portland, Oregon, was surprised this month when she discovered her stolen car had been returned to her. That wasn’t all: The car owner also found a letter of apology as well as money to replace the gas the thief used sitting inside the missing auto.
Portland resident Erin Hatzi discovered her red Subaru had been stolen on the night of October 25. Police told her that surveillance video showed an unknown person getting into the vehicle and then sitting there alone for several minutes before driving off.
“We were really confused because it didn’t seem like the normal actions of a car thief,” the car owner told Portland’s NBC affiliate. “You wouldn’t think they’d sit there in idle in the owner’s driveway for two or three minutes.”
After reporting her car stolen, Hatzi was shocked when a woman came driving up in the very “stolen” car she had just reported to police and left behind an apology note and some extra gas money.
It turns out that there really wasn’t any car theft at all, but instead, it was all a big misunderstanding.
Hatzi posted the contents of the note to Facebook as she laughed about the whole incident.
“Hello, So sorry I stole your car,” the note began. “I sent my friend with my key to pick up my red Subaru at 7802 SE Woodstock and she came back with your car. I did not see the car until this morning and I said, ‘That is not my car.’ There is some cash for gas and I more than apologize for the shock and upset this must have caused you… So so sorry for this mistake.”
As it happens, some older Subaru models have ignition keys that sometimes work in any number of other Subaru vehicles. The car the “thief” was looking for was sitting a block away the entire time.
“It’s insane,” Hatzi told the media. “It’s like a bad sitcom that nobody would ever buy the story because it’s stupid and it makes no sense. But it happened.”
In the end, everyone parted as friends.
Police said no charges will be filed.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.