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Car thief caught on tape being sought by lawmen
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Authorities are looking for a man who stole a car from a local repair shop with the crime caught on surveillance camera.The vehicle, a 2002 PT Cruiser, belongs to Michael Neal and was the car he used to deliver Southern Standards along his rural delivery route. He is using another car to service his customers, hoping he will get his old car back soon.According to sheriff’s chief deputy Tommy Myers, it was bad luck that Neal’s vehicle was the one chosen by the car thief when he began going through cars parked outside Jay’s Auto Repair on Highway 70 near the Highway 30 split.“We can see the man on surveillance camera where he’s checking into cars until he finds a key,” Myers said, noting lawmen believe the thief was not looking to steal items but instead was looking for a car to steal.The keys to the PT Cruiser were under the floor mat of the car as Neal had left the vehicle to have its air conditioner serviced.Myers said something that could be a clue to the thief’s identity is he can be seen carrying a backpack when he walked up to the parking lot from the highway, suggesting he may have either been a drifter or come armed with various burglary tools. The fact he was walking along the side of the road with a backpack, Myers noted, lends a chance someone may have seen him before the theft.