Brighton woman arraigned after not returning U-Haul

Ashley Rachelle Northrup, 34, of Brighton was arraigned by video while in custody in the Van Buren Township Police lockup on Jan. 31.
34th District Court Judge Lisa Martin arraigned her on a charge of failure to return rented property worth $20,000 or more on Dec. 30 in the City of Belleville.
Bond was set at $5,000/10%. Northrup’s probable cause conference was set for Feb. 9 and she is not to return to Pro Hardware in Belleville.
Mike Windiate, owner of Pro Hardware in Belleville, said Northrup rented the U-Haul on Dec. 30 and was supposed to return it the next day. He said he called her several times with no response and called her father who said he had no contact with her.
Belleville Police Chief Dave Robinson said the defendant rented this vehicle from U-Haul through Pro Hardware.
“The vehicle was not returned per the rental agreement so our department took the Stolen Vehicle (failed to return a rented vehicle) report,” Chief Robinson said.
“Washtenaw County had reports of a vehicle matching this vehicle description being involved in retail frauds at gas stations,” he said. “Washtenaw County stopped this vehicle for a traffic violation and the individual arraigned was driving the vehicle.
“When they checked the vehicle information they found that the vehicle was in the law enforcement data base as stolen (failed to return a rented vehicle) out of our jurisdiction.
“I do not believe Washtenaw County has any charges against the defendant or evidence that it was involved in crimes in their jurisdiction. We recovered the vehicle and took custody of the defendant,” Chief Robinson said.
The City of Belleville uses the Van Buren Township police lockup and dispatch through an agreement, so all the city’s suspects are detained at Van Buren Township Police Department.