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Man Accused of Stealing Vehicle From State College Hotel & Driving Drunk

Police on Tuesday arrested a man accused of stealing a pickup truck from the parking lot of a State College hotel and driving it under the influence of alcohol.

Carlos Gradiz, 18, took the vehicle after picking up keys that a guest had mistakenly left on the front desk at the Super 8 by Wyndham, 1663 S. Atherton St., according to an affidavit of probable cause.

After the guest reported the vehicle stolen, police reviewed security camera footage and saw a man take the keys from the desk and put them in his pocket, according to the affidavit.

Borough officers located the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. Gradiz was driving the truck alone and did not possess a driver’s license, police wrote. He allegedly provided a false name and date of birth and was later identified through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

Gradiz showed signs of impairment and submitted to a preliminary breath test, which showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.123%, according to the affidavit.

Inside the vehicle, police say they found three open 12-ounce cans of beer and a 1-gram nugget of marijuana.

The owner of the vehicle said that several of the thousands of dollars’ worth of tools that had been in the backseat were missing. They were later recovered from inside another vehicle in the hotel parking lot, according to police.

Gradiz is charged with a felony count of theft, misdemeanor counts of receiving stolen property, providing false identification to a law enforcement officer, DUI and possession of a small amount of marijuana, and a summary count of driving without a license.

He was arraigned on Wednesday morning and denied bail by District Judge Kelley Gillette-Walker, who wrote that Gradiz was “untruthful/uncooperative and not likely to follow any bail conditions set.”

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 12.

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About the Author

Geoff Rushton (StateCollege.com)

Geoff Rushton is managing editor for StateCollege.com. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter at @geoffrushton.

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