Man drove newly purchased car into Sandy dealership after being denied refund, police say

Aftermath of a crash at Tim Dahle Mazda Southtowne in in Sandy on Tuesday. A man was arrested Monday after police say he drove a car he had just purchased through the front doors of the dealership after being told he couldn't get a refund.

Aftermath of a crash at Tim Dahle Mazda Southtowne in in Sandy on Tuesday. A man was arrested Monday after police say he drove a car he had just purchased through the front doors of the dealership after being told he couldn't get a refund. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)


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SANDY — A Utah man apparently upset with the car he bought was arrested after police say he drove it through the front doors of the dealership when he was denied a refund.

About 4 p.m. Monday, Sandy police were called to Tim Dahle Mazda Southtowne, 10785 S. Auto Mall Drive, where Michael Lee Murray, 35, had purchased a car from the dealership earlier in the day but brought it back several hours later, according to a police booking affidavit.

"Murray returned to request his money back and to return the vehicle that he had bought. However, staff advised Murray that he bought the vehicle 'as is' and the vehicle cannot be returned in exchange for his money back. Murray told the manager that since they are not giving his money back he was going to drive his vehicle through the front doors," the affidavit states.

Murray then walked out of the building, got into his newly purchased vehicle, and true to his word, drove it through the front doors of the building, according to police. Seven employees told officers they had to jump or move out of the way to avoid being hit.

"Murray's vehicle was completely inside the building. The front doors were now inside the building, there was glass shattered all around where Murray's vehicle was and some pieces of the door and door frame had hit another vehicle that was in the showroom, causing damage to the side of that vehicle as well," the affidavit states.

Damage was estimated at $10,000. Murray told police the dealership "sold him a lemon, and they would not give him his money back," according to the arrest report.

He was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and economic interruption.

Video of the crash inside Tim Dahle Mazda Southtowne, 10785 S. Auto Mall Drive, Monday. Video: Cat Webster

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Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.
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