A Marion County sheriff’s deputy arrested a Trenton woman Monday after quickly disproving claims that her truck was stolen from an Ocala minimart’s parking lot.
Deputies were called to the Qwik King at 502 Oak Rd. in Ocala at 8:53 a.m. after 19-year-old Bailey Hayes called 911 for help. She claimed she had stopped at the minimart for about four minutes and parked near the ice chest in front of the store. She said when she was inside the store her truck was taken, a sheriff’s office report states.
Hayes told deputies that she waited about 10 to 15 minutes before calling 911 for help. And she said she believed “an African American male with short hair” had taken the truck,” the report says.
The deputy made contact with the truck’s owner, who confirmed that he let Hayes use his vehicle. He said Hayes already had called him to tell him the vehicle had been stolen and he had no idea where it was, the report says.
The deputy then viewed the Qwik King’s security camera footage, “which provided a clear view of the parking spot” where Hayes claimed to have left the truck. The deputy was able to determine that Hayes had, in fact, arrived at the minimart on foot at 8:48 a.m., borrowed the store’s phone and called 911, the report says.
When confronted, Hayes “changed her statement” and said she actually arrived at the store around 7 a.m. The deputy again checked the security camera footage and didn’t see the truck in the parking lot, the report says.
After being read her rights and questioned about the discrepancies in her story, Hayes continued to insist that the truck was stolen from the Qwik King parking lot “sometime during the daylight hours.” And after being placed under arrest, she said the truck “may have been taken from the parking lot of a different business” but was “not able to give a location or business name,” the report says.
Hayes was booked into Marion County Jail at 11:56 a.m. and charged with making a false report and giving false identification to a law enforcement officer. She also was charged with a probation violation on a warrant out of Gilchrist County for possession of a controlled substance.
Hayes was held on $2,000 bond on the two new charges and no bond on the probation violation. She is scheduled to appear in a Marion County courtroom on Oct. 17.
