A Massachusetts man faces multiple charges after he allegedly stole a car and crashed it while drunk.
Natick police say Gregory C. Hurst, 47, of Natick was arraigned Monday after his arrest on Friday night in the parking lot at Honey Farms on South Main Street.
The victim, a woman, stopped in the convenience store's parking lot to buy a pack of cigarettes and went inside, leaving her car running, police said.
Hurst allegedly went into the car, put the victim's cell phone in his pocket and then drove away.
Police started to use "Find My Phone" to track the victim's car when the car returned to the Honey Farm's parking lot with front-end damage, including damage to the car's tires.
"As I was responding to the car, I was wondering if we could find vehicle and decided that if she left her keys in the car maybe she left her phone in the car," Natick Police Sgt. Chad Howard said. "We were grateful and lucky that she left her phone in there, it worked out perfect for us."
Hurst, a Natick resident, was drunk when police started talking to him, and he had trouble standing on his own, investigators said.
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He also allegedly claimed that the victim gave him permission to drive the car, but the victim said she had never met him before.
Hurst was charged with operating under the influence of liquor, driving with a suspended license, larceny of more than $250, using a vehicle without authority and driving to endanger. He was also cited for a lights violation.
This was his fourth time being charged with OUI and 10th time being charged with driving with a suspended license.
A judge ordered Hurst to be held on $7,500 bail with conditions that should he be released, he will have to have a device installed on his phone that would test him for alcohol four times a day, and placed under house arrest with a GPS monitoring bracelet.
It's unclear if Hurst has an attorney.
He's due back in court on July 20 for a pretrial conference.
