BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

A Martin County man remained jailed Tuesday after police say he stole his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle while she was in the hospital recovering from the birth of their child.

The Pikeville Police Department responded to Pikeville Medical Center Saturday where the woman was staying. She told police that her ex-boyfriend, Christopher Jordan Mollette, 37, of Tomahawk, had come to the hospital to see the birth of their child. Because of hospital visitation policies, she told Mollette that he could sit in the passenger seat of her car to stay warm.

When the woman later checked, the car was gone.

Police reviewed hospital security footage that showed Mollette exiting the passenger side of the white Ford Fusion, entering the driver’s seat, and driving off hospital property.

The arrest warrant states that when the woman later contacted Mollette by phone, he told her it was “none of her business” where her vehicle was before hanging up.

An officer with the Paintsville Police Department arrested Mollette later that night in Johnson County and lodged him in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.

According to jail records, Mollette is facing charges of receiving stolen property valued between $1,000 and $10,000 and theft by unlawful taking or disposition of an automobile ($1,000-$10,000).