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Cottage Hill Man Charged With Grand Theft Of A U-Haul Truck
October 24, 2025
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office recently made an arrest in slightly unusual vehicle theft case. The vehicle was a 2021 GMC box truck rented from a U-Haul location on Mobile Highway.
James Joseph Sowinski, 55, was arrested at his Cottage Hill home this week on a warrant for the August incident.
According to the arrest report, the investigation centered on the U-Haul truck that was originally rented by Sowinski but was never returned on its due date of July 15, 2025.
The commercial vehicle was formally reported as stolen after the rental company attempted to contact Sowinski and sent a certified demand to return letter without success. The Sheriff’s Office was able to quickly track down and recover the vehicle at the Cutty Sark Liquor on Mobile Highway shortly after the official theft report was filed.
Sowinski is charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle. He remains in the Escambia County Jail without bond due to a propagation violation charge in a domestic violence injunction violation case from 2024.
Comments
2 Responses to “Cottage Hill Man Charged With Grand Theft Of A U-Haul Truck”
ECSO knows right where to look. Ha! Got’em again. Thank you!!!
I know people who work in the vehicle rental world. The people who don’t return the rental cars or trucks cost the rental companies millions of dollars every year. When a rental vehicle is not returned they have been found to be involved with criminal activity. These types of activities include human trafficking, robberies,drug transportation. The rental vehicles are typically damaged and abused when these people choose not to return. As always when this happens the cost of doing normal business goes up which eventually forces the cost for the consumer to go up.