A woman who offered a stranger a ride in Mid-City ended up watching him drive away in her own car, according to the New Orleans Police Department, which is now asking the public for help identifying and locating the man responsible. The incident happened around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at a business in the 300 block of South Broad Street.
According to a report from the New Orleans Police Department, the victim had given the pictured suspect a ride before he allegedly drove off in her 2004 silver Toyota Camry without her permission. Investigators say the man may go by the name Eric Smith, though that identity has not been confirmed. NOPD is treating him as wanted for unauthorized use of a movable, and as with any suspect, he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
The location places the case squarely in the Mid-City Security District, a stretch of South Broad Street that serves as a major commercial corridor near the Orleans Parish criminal court complex, according to the Mid-City Security District. The area falls under the jurisdiction of NOPD First District detectives, who handle investigations across Mid-City and Tremé and are based out of headquarters on North Rampart Street.
Why Louisiana Charges Differ From Grand Theft Auto
Louisiana doesn’t prosecute cases like this as grand theft auto or carjacking. Because the victim voluntarily let the suspect into her vehicle before he drove off, prosecutors need only show the car was taken or used without consent — not that he intended to permanently keep it. That distinction is spelled out under Louisiana Revised Statute Title 14, § 68, which defines unauthorized use of a movable as the intentional taking or use of another’s property without consent, absent any intent to permanently deprive the owner of it, per the Louisiana State Legislature…