Man totals car in Everett during test drive, runs off

Nicholle Jensen of Everett was trying to sell her 2004 Subaru Forester for $600 when she agreed to let a potential buyer take her car for a test drive.

The man had pulled over with his girlfriend when he saw Jensen put up the for-sale sign in her driveway, and he immediately asked if he could test drive the car.

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“I looked around — his significant other was here, he drove a vehicle here, he actually, I guess, was a neighbor down the road here,” Jensen said. “So I said, ‘Okay, sure, just around the block.'”

Jensen said that the couple looked legit, rather than the stereotypical image of people who would break the law. While the man took the Subaru on the test drive, his girlfriend remained, along with his 1997 Chevy Malibu.

The man offered to bring Jensen on the test ride, but because she had her child inside her home, she declined.

After about 20 minutes, the test driver had not returned. She ordered the man’s girlfriend to remain and called the police.

The police soon found the Subaru down the street — but not in the condition that Jensen had left it in.

“The car was mangled — it looked like it got thrown in a blender,” Jensen described.

During the test drive down a residential street, the man managed to flip the car over, totaling it. He apparently ran away from the scene afterwards, leaving behind his shoes and socks.

“The speed limit is no more than 25 — that individual had to be going at least 60,” Jensen said. “Barely rubbed the curb, overcorrected, basically drove the car up one of those tension wires that support a telephone pole, so the car drove up that, flipped upside-down, and knocked out power to the neighborhood, and now we have six telephone poles that are all leaning into the street.”

While the police were telling Jensen what they had discovered, the test driver’s girlfriend grabbed the opportunity to take off on foot.

Jensen was thankful that the man had not hurt anyone in a neighborhood full of pedestrians and children. However, she was not happy to find that in addition to being out a $600 car, she was also on the hook for a $175 tow bill.

To make matters worse, the man’s Chevy Malibu was still sitting in Jensen’s driveway without a key. The police told her that they were unable to tow it away. Jensen said that she would then put the car in neutral and push it into the street — to which police responded that they would have to arrest her.

Upon going through the car, Jensen found that the man had an outstanding warrant for driving with a suspended license and reckless endangerment. She removed everything valuable from the car, including the battery, and waited all night for him to come, but he never showed up.

Another dig through the car revealed why the man never came back for his Malibu.

“I come to find out that the car was never registered to anybody,” Jensen said.

She sold the Malibu for $100, which helped to cover the cost of tow truck. Jensen is glad that the story didn’t turn out worse, but she is still perplexed by the entire scenario.

“Who does that? Who really does that to someone?” Jensen said. “I don’t do that, I wouldn’t expect that to happen. And you know, I’ve learned a lot now for showing a vehicle private sale.”

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