Woman sentenced to 17 months for stealing her car from impound

SCHWANA — A 62-year-old Mattawa woman was sentenced to 17 months in prison Monday for stealing her truck from a Schwana impound lot that had been holding the vehicle for a month over unpaid fees.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports that Katrina Roseann Engle, whose car had been impounded a month prior, had broken into Davis Towing in order to take back the vehicle without paying to have it released, court records show.

Deputies arrived to find that the fence to the lot had been cut, a post had been bent over and a vehicle belonging to Engle had been removed from the lot. The owner of the facility informed police that he suspected Engle had retrieved her vehicle overnight, damaging two adjacent vehicles in the process.

Deputies drove to Engle’s residence, where they spotted the stolen vehicle, court records show. Upon contacting Engle inside the residence, she admitted to taking the vehicle in the middle of the night and stated she did not feel the tow company should be able to keep her car as a result of her owing fees.

Engle reportedly said that she had expected to be arrested for her actions and was booked without incident on charges of second-degree burglary, theft of a motor vehicle and second-degree malicious mischief.

Engle pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree burglary, a class B felony.

Emry Dinman can be reached via email at edinman@columbiabasinherald.com.