A Bloomfield man trying to sell his vehicle got into a conversation on Facebook messenger with a potential buyer. The potential buyer then met the seller and took the car for a test drive. Problem was, he never came back.

Robert Dale King, Jr., 32, of Bloomington, was charged with auto theft involving the theft of an entire vehicle, a Level 6 felony, when he appeared in Greene Superior Court last week.

Deputy Marshal Wayman JR Blazier of the Bloomfield Police Department began an investigation into the theft back in April when a man reported his vehicle was stolen from the High Rise on West Main Street in Bloomfield.

The man said he’d been in conversations with King on Facebook Messenger about buying the man’s 1999 white Honda Accord. On Tuesday, April 16, King arrived at the man’s residence and the man let him take the vehicle for a test drive. A few days later he called to report the car as stolen and told Officer Blazier he hadn’t seen King since he left with the car.

Information about the vehicle was entered into the IDACS system and on April 24, Officer Blazier was contacted by an officer from the Bedford Police Department saying they’d located the stolen vehicle parked partially in a roadway. There was no license plate on the vehicle, all the windows were rolled down and there were no keys in the vehicle. It was transported to a facility with an inside bay to be stored until Officer Blazier could get there to process the vehicle.

The next day, Blazier went to Bedford and took swabs off the driver’s door handle, the steering wheel and the shifter for DNA sampling.

Blazier attempted to make contact with King with no success.

A criminal case was filed against King and a warrant issued for King’s arrest on June 19. It remained outstanding until he was booked in to the Greene County Jail on June 28.

King’s bond was set at $4,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. As of late Monday, he had not yet posted bond and remained in jail.