By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
SALINA—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a northeast Kansas man after an incident in Salina.
Earlier this month, the Salina Police Department had received complaints from the City of Salina that someone was driving on the flood control dike on the north side of the city. Motorized vehicles driven by private citizens are not allowed on the dike.
The complaints also included specific vehicle and license plate information. From that, police determined that the 2022 Toyota Tacoma pickup, valued at $34,000, was being rented from Hertz, according to Salina Police Captain Gary Hanus.
The pickup originally had been rented Aug. 24 and was supposed to have been returned on Aug. 31.
Hanus said an officer then called Hertz on Sept. 15 and was told that the pickup return date had been changed to Sept. 16. When an officer contacted Hertz on Wednesday, a company representative said that the pickup had not yet been returned and that the man who was renting the pickup had turned off his credit card. At that point, Hertz reported the pickup as being stolen.
Later on Wednesday, a patrol officer saw the now stolen pickup in the parking lot at Pilot Travel Center, 1944 N. Ninth Street, and made contact with the occupant, who was identified as Michael A. Flanagan, 76, of Axtell, Kansas. Flanagan also was the person who had rented the pickup.
Flanagan was booked into the Saline County Jail on the following requested charges of Theft and Two counts of criminal trespass