AUGUSTA — A woman turned herself in to police Monday morning, saying she had stolen a car from a Wal-Mart parking lot the previous day and driven it to Portland and Bangor before leaving it at Hollywood Casino, authorities said.

Marianne Christian, 53, listed as transient, was charged with theft by unauthorized use of a motor vehicle after arriving at the Augusta Police Department Monday morning, according to Sgt. Christian Behr.

A local man told police he parked his car with the keys in it and running in the parking lot at Wal-Mart around 10 p.m. Sunday and went into the store with his girlfriend and a child in a baby seat. They came out about a half-hour later and the car was gone, according to Behr.

Around 9 a.m. Monday, Christian came into the police department in Augusta and reported she had stolen a car from Wal-Mart in Augusta. She said she drove it to Portland, then Bangor, and left it in the Hollywood Casino parking lot. Augusta police contacted police in Bangor who found the stolen car where the woman said she’d parked it.

It’s roughly 55 miles from the Augusta Wal-Mart to Portland, then another 130 miles to Hollywood Casino in Bangor.

Behr said Christian did not know the owner of the car and just came across it and decided to take it. He wasn’t sure how she had gotten back to Augusta from Bangor. The car was recovered by police and its owner was notified.


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