Boren faces charges of theft, vandalism

A car burglar posing as a mechanic faces theft and vandalism charges after police caught him in the act.

The defendant, Marcus Boren, 24, was allowed to leave the scene of the crime when first caught rifling through a car parked at Northside Car Wash. The owner had left it there because it was having mechanical trouble.

According to warrants taken by McMinnville Police Sgt. Mark Mara, Boren was inside the vehicle when he pulled into the lot on routine patrol around 2:30 a.m. During questioning, Boren reportedly claimed he was there to give the owner an estimate on fixing the vehicle.

Since the officer was unable to contact the car?s owner, Boren and the friend he was with were allowed to leave, but not before they gave their names and addresses.

It was a couple of days later when the owner called to report his car had been broken into and several items like costume jewelry were stolen. The owner also pointed out he never asked Boren to fix his car or give him an estimate.

Boren was then called in for questioning, and again repeated his false story of the night in question before breaking down and admitting he took the missing items. He would later return the items to police, apologizing for his crime.