An Austin man is in jail after stealing a tire from a vehicle he claimed was his.

According to Police Chief Brian Krueger, officers responded to Ninth Street and Third Avenue Northeast at about 9 p.m. Sunday when a 27-year-old man called to report he found his stolen vehicle. According to the complaint, the man claimed his vehicle, a black Buick, was taken from Lyle on Friday, yet he never reported the stolen vehicle.

He claimed the tan Buick in Austin was his missing car, and his friend who does auto body work must have changed the paint or the body of the vehicle.

The man left the area before officers arrived, and the victim came out of the home and saw the left front tire was missing and another tire was loose. Officers found the man a little while later who admitted to stealing the tire and stashing it at a trailer in the neighborhood. Officers later found the tire.

Officers ran the vehicle’s license plates and vin number, but it did not come up under ownership of who the suspect claimed it was.

The man was arrested for theft and tampering with a motor vehicle, and was taken to Mower County Jail pending charges.