Luke Sturdevant

A Warren County man accused of stealing two rental cars in Butler apparently is a Ford man.

Luke M. Sturdevant, 31, of Warren on Nov. 15 rented a 2015 Ford Fiesta from Hertz Rent A Car on North Monroe Street.

On Feb. 8, he rented a 2010 Ford Focus from Leeway Rent-A-Car on Pillow Street.

Butler police said he failed to return both cars.

Sturdevant is being held in the Butler County Prison following his arrest March 10 in connection with his keeping the Fiesta. He's charged with a felony count of theft of leased property.

He is awaiting arraignment set for Monday on a similar charge for keeping the Focus.

Before they finally landed him, city police had been looking for the defendant since Jan. 17 when they got an arrest warrant for him in the Hertz Rent A Car caper.

The business notified police when he did not return the Fiesta on Nov. 22, in accordance with the lease agreement.

The business made numerous attempts to contact Sturdevant, according to court documents, but with no luck. The attempts included a certified letter that was delivered to him Jan. 3.

Police eventually were able to reach the suspect by telephone. He told an officer he no longer had the car.

Sturdevant claimed he previously had asked a friend named “Brandon” to return the car. The defendant, however, did not know “Brandon's” last name, or his address, or his telephone number, police said.

But less than three months later, the suspect signed his name to another lease agreement, this one at Leeway Rent-A-Car.

He was supposed to return the Focus on Feb. 10. He didn't, police said.

Leeway officials tried in vain to call Sturdevant to get him to bring back the car. They sent a certified letter March 2, documents said.

Police on Tuesday charged Sturdevant with failing to return the Focus.

He was arraigned March 10 for failing to return the Fiesta, and placed in the county prison on $5,000 bail in that case.

He's also being held on an unrelated retail theft charge in Butler Township. His bail in that case is $7,500.