Man Poses As Unknown Minor Leaguer To Steal Truck

To convince a dealership to front you a vehicle, you need to pretend to be someone famous enough to be able to pay for it, but not so famous that they'd recognize his face. The perfect balance: Tyler Colvin. Who?

Yes, that Tyler Colvin. He of the 17 career at-bats, in six games with the Cubs over the last week of the season. Apparently his credit is known the world over, because a dealership let a man claiming to be him drive off in a brand new pickup truck, promising to pay later.

What's even more bizarre is that this didn't happen anywhere near Chicagoland, where the name "Tyler Colvin" might be vaguely familiar. No, it happened in suburban Salt Lake City, where one Matthew Van Meter produced documents identifying him as Colvin (his Topps rookie card, perhaps?) and was comped a 2010 Dodge pickup worth $50,000. He promised to pay for it the next day, and if you can't trust a double-A Tennessee Smokie, who can you trust?

Colvin was a first-round pick in 2006, so I'm sure he's got the money. But when did dealerships start letting people drive away with vague assurances that they're good for it? Oh, Utah. So trusting, so naive. Van Meter probably could have claimed to be Sammy Sosa and gotten away with it.

Thief posed as Chicago Cub, charges say [Salt Lake Tribune]