Ash Grove’s Herr charged with vehicle tampering

An Ash Grove man is in custody at the Greene County Jail after allegedly being found in possession of a stolen vehicle. Nathan Michael Herr, 29, was booked into the jail on Friday, Dec. 9.
According to the probable cause statement in the case, a 2013 Kia Soul was stolen from a residence in Springfield on Nov. 22. Herr was allegedly found asleep in the vehicle on Dec. 9 at a Signal Food Store at 2415 S. Campbell Ave., after the business was closed. The keys to the car were in the ignition, and it was running. The vehicle’s license plates were mismatched, and neither of them belonged to the car.
In a post-Miranda interview, Herr claimed that he acquired the vehicle from a friend at Crosswinds Apartments on Ingram Mill Road on Wednesday, Dec. 7. He also said his friend loaned him the vehicle because he needed to get home to Ash Grove and didn’t have his own car. However, Herr allegedly didn’t have an explanation as to why he wasn’t in Ash Grove or why he still had the vehicle after he was supposed to return it.
According to information found in the criminal complaint, Herr is being prosecuted as a prior and persistent offender. It stated he has two prior convictions for stealing, one from a case in 2018 and another from a case in 2019. He was found guilty of both charges on July 6, 2020. Vehicle tampering is a Class D felony, punishable with prison sentence of up to seven years, but if Herr is convicted of the crime as a prior and persistent offender, he can be sentenced to a term of imprisonment at the level of a Class C felony, up to 10 years.
Herr is currently scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Monday, Jan. 9.