Center Barnstead Man Charged with Stealing Car

A local man with a number of previous run-ins with the law was arrested earlier this month for allegedly stealing a rental car.

Michael D. Gruette, 37, of Ridge Road in Center Barnstead, was arrested at 10:45 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2015, and charged with unauthorized use of a propelled vehicle/rental property.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link to find out how to get a name removed from a New Hampshire Patch police report.

According to a court affidavit, on Aug. 5, 2015, an officer was sent to the Courtyard Marriot on Constitution Avenue for a report of a stolen vehicle.

The hotel, which is also a rental station for AVIS, stated that on July 24, 2015, Gruette reportedly rented a 2016 Hyundai Elantra, putting down $100 cash and a credit card, for one day. However, he allegedly never returned with the vehicle.

AVIS attempted to charge the card for the additional charges related to him allegedly not returning the vehicle but it was no longer valid, according to the report. A phone number he left was also no longer in service. AVIS sent a letter to Gruette on July 29, 2015, to his Center Barnstead address demanding that the car be returned but he allegedly never responded to the letter. Having received no response, the agent called police.

The officer asked if Gruette returned the vehicle to another address but the agent stated she checked and it had not been returned. The officer ran a check on Gruette and found that he had an active warrant out of Merrimack County for forgery. He tried to reach him at home but his phone number was no longer in service. The officer then called Center Barnstead Police and requested that he be arrested on the forgery warrant but they were unable to find him.

On Aug. 12, 2015, a warrant was issued for Gruette on the stolen vehicle charge.

About a week later, the officer visited Gruette at the Merrimack County House of Corrections where he had been arrested on other charges by the Loudon Police after the vehicle had been entered into NCIC as stolen and then caught up with him. Gruette was charged in prison and declined to see a bail commissioner. He was arraigned the next day.

In September 2010, when he was living in Deerfield, he was arrested for issuing bad checks. In October 2013, he was arrested by the Pembroke Police for forgery and driving after suspension, according to Pembroke Police. Later that month, Gruette was arrested on felony drug charges, breach of bail, and a warrant after being arrested, allegedly with cocaine, outside of Cimo’s South End Deli, according to an arrest report on Concord NH Patch. About six months later, in March 2014, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman on North State Street. Gruette was arrested about two week later on felony forgery charges as well as receiving stolen property.

• Sign up for news alerts from local New Hampshire Patch sites.