SALISBURY – Police charged a local business owner after a customer’s vehicle vanished last week.
A Salisbury Police report said Richard Hattaway, of Hattaway Radiator & AC Service, was charged with resisting, obstructing or delaying an officer.
A customer contacted authorities on Sept. 28 when he had his silver F-150 truck towed to the South Main Street business because of a broken hose. The driver gave Hattaway the keys to the truck, officers said, but the vehicle was missing an hour and a half later when the man returned.
Hattaway initially told officers he didn’t have any knowledge of the vehicle nor the keys nor the whereabouts of the truck. Police said he later acknowledged he remembered the truck, but didn’t have the keys.
The following day, officers saw the truck in the parking lot at Hattaway’s business. The driver and Hattaway were talking in the parking lot when authorities arrived, the report said.
Police said the vehicle was moved from the parking lot of Richard’s BBQ restaurant on North Main Street to Hattaway’s business. The key was found in the truck.
Witnesses told police Hattaway left the vehicle in the restaurant’s parking lot, the report said. The truck did not appear to be damaged.
Hattaway was not in jail Tuesday.
The charge was minor compared to the list of legal issues Hattaway has handled in recent years. The 53-year-old has been convicted of five separate driving while impaired charges since 1998. His latest conviction was in July.
In August, he was charged with a sixth DWI; driving while license revoked; hit and run property damage; and resisting, obstructing or delaying an officer. Authorities said Hattaway ran from officers after his vehicle collided with mailboxes and damaged the front lawn of a home near Canteberry Drive. At the time, a nearby electrician helped officers find Hattaway. Police said he was hiding between bushes.