WOOD RIVER - A man is facing multiple charges after allegedly leaving a stolen car near Van Preter in Wood River.
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Wood River Deputy Police Chief Dan Bunt said a neighbor witnessed the suspect wiping the steering wheel and door handle of the vehicle before apparently abandoning it around 11 a.m. Tuesday. That neighbor called police, and Bunt said the vehicle was discovered to have been stolen from East Alton sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning. The suspect fled on foot from the scene, sprinting through "multiple backyards" before being apprehended by officers from both Wood River and East Alton in the 300 block of Conley in Wood River.
"It is little stuff like the neighbor seeing him wiping the door and wheel, and calling us, that really works out for all of us," Bunt said.
The vehicle was still able to be driven after being recovered, Bunt said. It has been taken to a local impound lot where it awaited its owner.
When asked why the man would steal a car and abandon it the next morning, Bunt said the suspect was not cooperative with authorities, but offered "he must have gotten whatever use out of it he wanted."
