Woman just out of jail steals truck in parking lot for a ride home, LA cops say

A woman fresh out of jail was arrested again within two hours, after she opted to take a government vehicle as her ride home, according to Louisiana deputies.

The re-arrest came around 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 11, shortly after someone reported “a suspicious female walking in the middle of Hwy 63,” the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office reports.

“The complainant advised that a female exited a Livingston DPW (Department of Public Works) truck and was asking for a ride,” Livingston Parish Jason Ard said in a news release. “She was seen being picked up by a vehicle headed south. Deputies would quickly locate and detain the female at a Livingston grocery store. Inside that DPW truck, deputies would find her Livingston Parish Detention Center (LPDC) discharge paperwork.”

An investigation revealed the 42-year-old woman had been in jail on a criminal trespassing charge and was released at 7 a.m. that day, officials said.

“As soon as she stepped foot outside of the LPDC, (she) attempted to gain entry into an LPSO unmarked unit in the front parking lot. She was unsuccessful,” Ard says.

The woman then went for the public works department truck, officials said. Investigators did not explain why she abandoned the truck on State Highway 63.

Jail records indicate the woman was back behind bars at 9:09 a.m., this time charged with theft of a vehicle and attempted theft of a vehicle (the unmarked unit).

Livingston Parish is about a 35-mile drive east of Baton Rouge.