--- title: Couple Steals Car to Make it to Court on Time in Modesto description: It didn't go very well canonical: https://time.com/66442/couple-steals-car-so-they-wont-be-late-for-court/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-17T15:45:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:08:52.731Z og:title: Couple Steals Car So They Won't Be Late For Court og:description: It didn't go very well og:url: https://time.com/66442/couple-steals-car-so-they-wont-be-late-for-court/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt096d979be1d533c4/69868b0dcd684875e80942f0/164388046.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5310 og:image:height: 2987 og:image:alt: 164388046 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Couple Steals Car So They Won't Be Late For Court twitter:description: It didn't go very well twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt096d979be1d533c4/69868b0dcd684875e80942f0/164388046.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Couple Steals Car So They Won't Be Late For Court > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Apr 17, 2014 3:45 PM UTC  Handcuffs Handcuffs Daniel Allan—Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Apr 17, 2014 3:45 PM UTC James Manning and Teresa Castillo hit bottom …and then started digging. The California couple is accused of stealing a car in order to make it to criminal court, where Manning was facing charges of possession of a controlled substance. According to [The Modesto Bee,](http://www.modbee.com/2014/04/14/3292084/police-couple-steals-vehicle-to.html?sp=/99/1571/&ihp=1) the police discovered the crime last Friday afternoon, when a car dealership in Redding, California reported that a 2001 Mitsubishi had been stolen from their lot. (Yes, someone stole a 2001 Mitsubushi.) Via the car’s GPS locator, police were able to track the vehicle and surprisingly found it sitting in the Tuolumne County Courthouse parking lot. Police staked out the vehicle and stopped Castillo when she approached the car. She claimed to have purchased the car for $200 (which is far below the car’s stated Blue Book value) earlier in the day, specifically to make it to Manning’s court appearance in Sonora, CA. Police tracked down Manning inside the courthouse to corroborate her story, but after questioning, he admitted to having stolen the vehicle. When cops searched the car, they found marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Castillo and Manning were then booked into Tuolumne County Jail on felony charges of possession of stolen property and possession of a controlled substance. No word on the outcome of Manning’s initial court appearance or whether he made it there on time. \[Via [The Modesto Bee](http://www.modbee.com/2014/04/14/3292084/police-couple-steals-vehicle-to.html?sp=/99/1571/&ihp=1)\] **MORE**: [Long-Haired Lady Sues Walmart for Ruining Her Locks](http://time.com/65663/long-hair-walmart-shampoo-lawsuit/) **MORE**: [Toddler Gets Ticketed While Driving Toy Car](http://time.com/23262/toddler-gets-ticketed-while-driving-toy-car/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/66442/couple-steals-car-so-they-wont-be-late-for-court/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/66442/couple-steals-car-so-they-wont-be-late-for-court/"},"headline":"Couple Steals Car So They Won't Be Late For Court","datePublished":"2014-04-17T15:45:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:08:52.731Z","description":"It didn't go very well","url":"https://time.com/66442/couple-steals-car-so-they-wont-be-late-for-court/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Crime","Jobs","Economy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt096d979be1d533c4/69868b0dcd684875e80942f0/164388046.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt096d979be1d533c4/69868b0dcd684875e80942f0/164388046.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"164388046","caption":"164388046","creditText":"Daniel Allan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/66442/couple-steals-car-so-they-wont-be-late-for-court/","name":"Couple Steals Car So They Won't Be Late For Court"}}]}] ```