Donald Eugene Fugate

Zachary Kyle Webster

Two Warsaw men are accused of stealing a vehicle and concocting a story of mechanical failure for why they failed to return the car.

Donald Eugene Fugate, 40, and Zachary Kyle Webster, 22, both of the 400 block of South Buffalo Street, were arrested and charged with auto theft after Sparkman Auto reported the duo had drove away with the 2005 Pontiac Grand Am and failed to return in.

According to the Warsaw Police report, Fugate and Webster took the car on a test drive at about 2 p.m. Thursday. At 5:30 p.m., when the two had not returned, the vehicle was reported stolen.

The police report says Fugate and Webster claimed they drove up to Syracuse where the vehicle allegedly broke down near Elkhart County. They said they got a battery charger and got the vehicle started again only to have a wire in the starter catch fire. They told Sparkman Auto they would have the car back by around 8:30 p.m.

When the two had still not returned to Warsaw with the vehicle by 10 p.m., an alert was put out to all area police departments. A Syracuse Police officer located the vehicle and took the suspects into custody. The report did not indicate if any damages had been done or resulted to the car.

Both men were booked on $2,000 bonds.