The man who stole an $80,000 2015 Ghibli Maserati from a La Jolla dealership was arrested Monday in a courthouse hallway after showing up nearly two hours after he was supposed to be sentenced.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Charles Gill issued a no bail warrant for the arrest of Marcus Lee Allen, 30, after he was a no show at sentencing. His attorney said he had not had recent contact with him.
Allen will appear before another judge Tuesday, but only to set another sentencing date. It was around 3:15 p.m. Monday when Allen showed up and courtroom deputies handcuffed him in the hallway after Gill said a new sentencing date would have to be set.
Allen could get four years in prison for the remarkable easy job it was to pick up the Ghibli Maserati keys off a receptionist’s desk and drive off with the car on April 30. Allen was arrested in May about a week after the Italian vehicle was discovered in downtown San Diego and was impounded by police.
Deputy District Attorney Luis Mendez said the initial no show will not help Allen get a lesser sentence. Court records say Allen may receive a “split sentence” of serving two or three years in a local jail, but a remaining year would be on sheriff’s supervision. He posted $50,000 bond on May 28. Allen has five prior convictions for auto theft and his guilty plea notes he was previously convicted of stealing a car in 2009. The car was taken from the Maserati dealership at 7477 Girard Ave. when Allen said he was looking at cars and identified himself as J.T. He said his brother was supposed to join him and he talked to someone on a cell phone. Allen continued to look at cars for a half hour and then took the car keys when no one was around and drove off, according to court records.
Someone who knew him as J.T. noticed the new Maserati and remembered reading a story about someone with that nickname stealing a Maserati. That person notified police, who impounded the car on May 12, which was not far from where Allen lived downtown.