A Dunnellon woman was arrested over the weekend after she was caught driving a rental car that had been reported as stolen.
On Saturday, May 25, at around 6:30 p.m., a Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy observed a Hyundai Sonata traveling westbound in the 2400 block of NW 10th Street in Ocala. The deputy noted in the arrest report that a computer search of the license plate revealed that a rental company in Tennessee had reported the vehicle stolen after it was rented and never returned.
The report stated that the car turned into the parking lot of a nearby convenience store. The deputy then made contact with the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, identified as Terry Lee Odom.
The deputy was informed by the Alcoa Police Department in Tennessee that Odom was the suspect in the theft case involving the rental car. She was detained in the back of the deputy’s patrol vehicle.
After being read her Miranda rights, Odom admitted to renting the vehicle in Tennessee through Avis. She claimed that she knew the owner of the local Avis branch that rented her the vehicle, and she “last spoke to (the owner) one month ago,” according to the report.
Odom further claimed that the owner at Avis had told her that they would “take care of the rental.” She denied any knowledge that the vehicle was stolen, and she told the deputy that she “had no intention on keeping the vehicle.”
During an investigation into the incident, the deputy learned that Odom did not have a valid driver’s license. She told the deputy that she had been dealing with some “legal issues,” and she admitted that she did not obtain a valid driver’s license from Florida or any other state.
Odom was arrested and transported to Marion County Jail, where she is currently being held on a $3,000 bond. She is being charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license.
A court date has been scheduled at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 25, according to jail records.