Drunk Theft Auto?

In the early morning hours of Sunday, Oct. 20, in Sheyenne, N.D., Delorean H. Comer somehow acquired a 2000 Dodge Ram which didn’t belong to him.

Court documents say the vehicle was reported stolen shortly after Comer had grabbed a pair of car keys as he left the Sheyenne Bar at around 12:15 a.m. that morning.

Hours later, at around noon, residents of Sheyenne spotted Comer driving the vehicle in town and reportedly surrounded him as law enforcement arrived.

“I received a call that the vehicle had been spotted being driven in the City of Sheyenne,” states an affidavit written by Chief Deputy Jesse Anderson of the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office.

“I responded and found a group of men surrounding the vehicle. They said they observed the Defendant driving the vehicle and knowing it had been stolen, blocked him in when he was driving. The Defendant fled the vehicle and I found him a block away.”

Anderson writes that Comer admitted to driving the vehicle, but didn’t own up to much more than that.

When asked how he’d acquired the car, Comer reportedly claimed he had no idea, and that he was so intoxicated earlier that morning that he didn’t even remember how he left the Sheyenne Bar.

Nevertheless, whether an intentional theft or a drunken mistake, Comer has now been charged with a Class C felony for theft as well as a Class A misdemeanor for driving while his license privileges were suspended.

On Monday, Oct. 21, his bond was set at $1,000 cash or surety, and as of press time he was still behind bars at the Lake Region Law Enforcement Center in Devils Lake.

Court documents say law enforcement was working to acquire security camera footage from the Sheyenne Bar, which could corroborate the eye-witness accounts of Comer grabbing the car keys before he left.

If found guilty, Comer is facing a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment and/or a $5,000 fine for the felony charge, in addition to a maximum penalty of 360 days behind bars and/or a fine of $3,000 for the Class A misdemeanor.

Comer is considered innocent unless proven guilty.