Opinion No. (1997)

DANIEL E. LUNGREN Attorney General CLAYTON P. ROCHE Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE DICK MONTEITH, MEMBER OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE, has requested an opinion on the following question: When the owner of a vehicle has been arrested for driving without a valid license and the vehicle has been impounded, may the owner be found guilty of grand theft for removing the vehicle from the impounding agency's custody without permission or authority prior to the expiration of the 30-day impoundment period? CONCLUSION When the owner of a vehicle has been arrested for driving without a valid license and the vehicle has been impounded, the owner may be found guilty of grand theft for removing the vehicle from the impounding agency's custody without permission or authority prior to the expiration of the 30-day impoundment period. ANALYSIS Vehicle Code section 14602.6 1 provides: "(a) Whenever a peace officer determines that a person was driving a vehicle while his or her driving privilege was suspended or revoked or without ever having been issued a license, the peace officer may either immediately arrest that person and cause the removal and seizure of that vehicle or, if the vehicle…