CA8: Def abandoned a rental car he didn’t rent and didn’t have keys to on another’s back property

Defendant drove a rental car rented by another and parked it in someone’s backyard he didn’t know. He knocked on the door, got no answer, and left the car there. The owner, however, was there and didn’t answer the door. The owner called the police who came, ran the LPN and saw that it was a rental car. Defendant came running up to the car claiming he drove it there. But, he had no key and he gave a story about why he left the car there. The whole thing seemed suspicious, so he was handcuffed while the officers sorted it out. There were also warrants out for him. Ultimately, the car was opened by the tow truck driver with a slimjim, and the inventory produced drugs in a solid Coke can “safe.” The inventory was stopped for a search warrant. The initial search of the car was valid, as was the search with the warrant. The car was trespassing and essentially abandoned. (The court assumes without deciding he had standing.) United States v. Long, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 28746 (8th Cir. Oct. 12, 2018).