Man allows 72-year-old who unwittingly bought his stolen car keep it

Last week, a thief stole a 1993 Chrysler New Yorker from a house in Boonville, Indiana and then sold it to a 72-year-old man for $300, in the rightful owner’s name. The 72-year-old man, however, started to have a nagging feeling that the deal was just too good to be true and so he gave the car’s rightful owner, Derk West, a call after looking him up. As WFIE 14 News reports, what happened next was pretty fantastic.

Mr. West met up with the 72-year-old who had unwittingly bought his stolen Chrysler and determined the senior citizen needed the vehicle more than he did. As Mr. West told WFIE, “…72-years-old and fixed income. Stuff like that. He was out $300, he was out the money and he was just, really upset. He told us, ‘Too good to be true.’ I just drove the car for several years as a work car…By the time it was over, I worked it out, I just wound up giving him the car. He needed it worse than I did.”

As for the alleged car thief, 46-year-old Donald Grigsby of Evansville, Indiana was arrested by the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office on April 13. Mr. West told WFIE that Mr. Grigsby was caught because he had signed the receipt using his social security number.

More info: WFIE