Abington Police say that a man's failure to return a U-Haul van results in felony charges

Police said that a Philadelphia man faces felony charges after overextending his moving truck van rental, keeping it more than a week past its due return.

Abington Township Police Department reported that, while on patrol on Easton Road in the Willow Grove section of the township on Dec. 6 around 8:03 a.m., they witnessed a white, Chevrolet Express G2500 moving van traveling northbound. According to the criminal complaint, the van was a U-Haul rental van was wrapped in U-Haul decals and had Arizona license plates. Police said that, upon running the tags through their system, the van came back as having been stolen out of Philadelphia.

Police said that they conducted a traffic stop to question the driver. The van’s sole occupant was its driver, Michael Anthony Batchelor, 34, of the 2400 block of West Firth Street in Philadelphia. Batchelor was detained by police while they reached out to the U-Haul location, which had reported the vehicle as stolen.

Upon calling the rental location, the company’s representative told police that Batchelor did rent the van but was scheduled to return the van on Nov. 29. Police said that after the U-Haul organization marked the van as unreturned, and after “multiple attempts to contact” him, reported the vehicle as stolen.

Batchelor is charged with a felony count of receiving stolen property, as well as a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He was released on bond signature on Dec. 6. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 9 at 9:45 a.m. with Magisterial District Judge John D. Kessler.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.