An attempted vehicle theft in East Nashville turned into a confusing situation, causing one man to call police when he thought his friend was kidnapped, and another man to call police claiming his car was stolen, when neither of those situations were actually what happened.
It all started on the evening of Monday, January 2nd when Robert Gill parked his car in front of the Gulf gas station on Porter Road in East Nashville.
Gill was driving a car that had push-button start, and when he parked it at the gas station, he left the car on and took his key with him because his friend was asleep in the passenger seat.
After Gill went inside of the convenience store, surveillance video shows a would-be thief jumped out of a van and attempted to steal Gill's car, only to find out that there was someone asleep in the passenger seat.
"He was trying to take the car," the man in the front seat who did not want his identity revealed, said.
The situation scared the thieves and they bolted from the area. As for the man in the car, he was woken up, and being in a confused state, thought his friend, the driver of the car, was kidnapped.
"The first thing that came to mind was that he just got kidnapped, because I didn't even realize we pulled up to the gas station, I didn't know he got out of the car previously," the man said.
Gill was in the store buying a car charger, all while his friend got in the drivers seat and drove away, searching for Gill and calling police for help.
"As I'm calling the police, he's calling the police," the passenger said after the fact, knowing that Gill realized his car was gone when he exited the convenience store. "He's calling to report his car being stolen and I'm calling to report him being kidnapped."
Police responded to both of the phone calls, and luckily the situation was resolved.
"They came down there and explained to me what was going on, that my friend was still at the gas station and thought I took off with his car. He didn't know what was going on," the man said.
Police said this is a good reminder that you should never leave your car running when unattended, and you should always lock your car whether anyone is inside of the car or not.
Police are still looking for the would-be criminals. If you have any information that could prevent a crime like this in the future, give police a call.
