Hunter
09/02/23
A Fairfield man was arrested Thursday night after he was allegedly operating a stolen moped.
Officers ran the plates on a white moped traveling in the 2000 block of Taylor Drive at around 6:30pm and discovered it had been reported as stolen. A traffic stop was initiated, and the driver was identified as 34-year-old Richard Downing.
Downing was operating the moped without a key, indicating that he may have hot-wired the vehicle.
Downing was charged with 2nd degree Theft, a Class D Felony punishable by a prison term of up to five years if convicted.
Downing had an outstanding warrant on another moped theft, this time on August 17th at the Town and Campus Apartments. Downing allegedly located the vehicle at the complex, and video surveillance reportedly showed him driving the vehicle onto the grounds, parking it and walking in front of several cameras. Residents at the apartment complex identified Downing as the person on the footage.
If additionally convicted for that incident, it could double his sentence to ten years.