BEDFORD – A Bedford man was arrested on a warrant for auto theft after a Bedford Police Department investigation.
Police arrested 39-year-old Stephen Lamb on Monday, April 22, 2024.
According to Detective Major Kye Louden, on December 11, 2023, just after 6:00 p.m., a couple came to the Bedford Police Department to report the theft of the woman’s car. The couple had lent their vehicle to Stephen Lab on December 3, 2023, because his car was not running. Lamb was told to bring his car to the couple’s home so he could work on it. On December 4, 2023, the man got the car working, and Lamb came and picked it up. The woman’s 2019 Chevrolet Cruze was parked in the driveway next to the house.
On the morning of December 5, 2023, the car was missing.
The male noticed Lamb driving the car south on State Road 37 on December 6, 2023, around 3:00 p.m. The man said he thought Lamb was staying with his girlfriend in Bloomington.
The man believed Lamb took the keys to his wife’s car when he had placed them on top of a toolbox in his garage when Lamb came to pick up his vehicle.
On December 13, police contacted Lamb’s girlfriend. She told police the couple had loaned the vehicle to them while they worked on her car. Police noted that the car worked on was parked in the woman’s driveway. She told police she had not seen Lamb for a few days.
On December 14, 2023, police were contacted about the stolen vehicle in Harrison County. Timothy Hayes, the male driving the car, was arrested on another charge, and A1 Towing towed the vehicle. Hayes was not charged with auto theft because he told police the car was loaned to him.
The vehicle was released to the owners. The owners told police there was minor damage to the car that was not there before it was stolen.
On March 6, 2023, police received a call from Lamb saying he was at work and to call him. Around 4:00 p.m., police contacted Lamb. He admitted he did have his car worked on and was permitted to borrow the Chevrolet Cruze. He told police he had text messages to prove it. He admitted he had kept the vehicle longer than the owner wanted him to because the owners owed him money. In the text message, the owner claims they will pay Lamb what they owe him to get the car back. Police told Lamb that even if the vehicle was loaned to him, it was a crime not to return it.
Police advised Lamb that just because someone owes you money doesn’t give him the right to keep the vehicle. Lamb then acknowledged keeping the car was wrong. He was then asked about loaning the car to Hayes. He said he did allow Hayes to borrow the vehicle to pick up his daughter, but he was stopped by police and arrested on unrelated charges. He admitted Hayes did not know he was driving a stolen vehicle.
The information was forwarded to the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Office, and a warrant was issued for Lamb’s arrest.
