Virginia Law 18.2-102 – Unauthorized Use of Vehicle
Unauthorized use of a vehicle is a Class 6 Felony under Virginia law. It is punished by up to 5 years in prison and a $2500, in addition to restitution.
Borrowing a vehicle without permission, even though you planned to return it and never intended to steal it, can land you with a felony charge under Virginia Law 18.2-102 – Unauthorized Use.
This law punishes a temporary deprivation of personal property depending on the value of the item borrowed.
The borrower must have known that he was borrowing the car without permission.
Just because consent or permission to use was granted by the owner on a previous occasion, such consent will not be implied in defense of the accused.
Anyone who assists or acts as an accomplice will be responsible for the crime as if he or she acted as the principal offender and will be punished as the primary offender.
§ 18.2-102. Unauthorized use of animal, aircraft, vehicle or boat; consent; accessories or accomplices.
Any person who shall take, drive or use any animal, aircraft, vehicle, boat or vessel, not his own, without the consent of the owner thereof and in the absence of the owner, and with intent temporarily to deprive the owner thereof of his possession thereof, without intent to steal the same, shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony; provided, however, that if the value of such animal, aircraft, vehicle, boat or vessel shall be less than $500, such person shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The consent of the owner of an animal, aircraft, vehicle, boat or vessel to its taking, driving or using shall not in any case be presumed or implied because of such owner’s consent on a previous occasion to the taking, driving or using of such animal, aircraft, vehicle, boat or vessel by the same or a different person. Any person who assists in, or is a party or accessory to, or an accomplice in, any such unauthorized taking, driving or using shall be subject to the same punishment as if he were the principal offender.
§ 18.2-109. Receipt or transfer of possession of stolen vehicle, aircraft or boat.
Any person who, with intent to procure or pass title to a vehicle, aircraft, boat or vessel, which he knows or has reason to believe has been stolen, shall receive or transfer possession of the same from one to another or who shall with like intent have in his possession any vehicle, aircraft, boat or vessel which he knows or has reason to believe has been stolen, and who is not an officer of the law engaged at the time in the performance of his duty as an officer, shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony.
