OSSIPEE — A woman was arrested Saturday morning after police say she was found with a stolen vehicle in the parking lot of a local church.
At 7:30 a.m., the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received a call reporting a suspicious vehicle at the First Congregational Church of Ossipee on Route 16B.
The caller claimed a female subject arrived in a car that seemed to be stolen, turned off the engine, and was unable to restart it.
The caller also mentioned the woman did not have a key to the vehicle.
Upon receiving the vehicle’s license plate number, dispatch confirmed it had been reported stolen earlier that day from the parking lot of Memorial Hospital in Conway, N.H.
Ossipee Police Department’s Officer Carrie Blackwood and Sergeant Timothy Thompson of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.
The operator, identified as 40-year-old Brandy Smith of Conway, N.H., was apprehended without incident.
Smith was charged with a single count of Receiving Stolen Property, a Class A Felony, and Operating After Revocation or Suspension, a subsequent offense classified as a Class A Misdemeanor.
Following her arrest, Smith was taken to the Carroll County Jail and held on $1,000 cash bail.
She is set for arraignment on Dec. 23 in the Ossipee District Court.
Additional charges by the Conway Police Department are expected.
The stolen vehicle, a 2011 Toyota Camry, was recovered undamaged and has been returned to its rightful owner.
The Ossipee Police Department has issued a reminder to the community to secure their vehicles when unattended, emphasizing the importance of this precaution during the colder months when cars might be left running to warm up.
