Woman was ‘hearing voices coming from the floorboard’ of roommate’s stolen car, trooper says

ST. CLOUD, Fla. – You can’t return a rental car if it’s stolen. A man told a cop he drove a blue Chevy Malibu with a New York plate, and parked it, and last saw it the night before. Incredibly, the car was found a few hours away, before he even knew it was gone.

“[The renter] advised he has a friend, Natasha Russell, who has been staying with him,” a sheriff’s deputy in Central Florida wrote. That morning, he “woke up and observed his keys were no longer hanging on a hook near his front door. [He] went outside and observed the vehicle he rented for the next three days was missing. [He] looked in the house and Natasha was gone. [He] believes Natasha took the vehicle; however, he did not see her take the vehicle. [He] called Enterprise and they advised there was no way to GPS track the vehicle, and there are no identifying marks on the vehicle. Enterprise advised [him] to file a police report and to enter the vehicle as stolen.”

Next, the deputy showed him “a picture of Natasha from [the police computer] and he advised that it was 100% his roommate and the one he believes took the vehicle. [He] did not give anyone permission to take the vehicle, and he was the only one who had access to the vehicle. [He] advised he attempted to call Natasha several times; however, he believes her phone was turned off, due to it going straight to voicemail.”

Authorities say he was right, and that she had already been found with the car, but they had more work to do before learning that.

“I completed a teletype sheet to enter the vehicle as stolen,” the deputy wrote. “A stolen vehicle affidavit was completed. A neighborhood canvas was completed; however, there were no cameras seen.”

Then came the surprising news.

“Teletype advised there was a delayed hit from Florida Highway Patrol, Tallahassee Division,” the deputy explained. “It advised that their troopers arrested Natasha Russell, who was in the Chevy Malibu,” in Quincy, Gadsden County, in the panhandle.

All of that happened on Oct. 13.

Russell was going to be charged with grand theft auto when she was returned to Osceola County, so authorities there got an arrest warrant.

What she had been doing in the car was another matter.

The trooper wrote he was on patrol late on Oct. 12, and “dispatched to a pedestrian walking on the interstate [I-10].”

The blue Malibu with New York plate was there. In front of it “was a pickup truck and trailer that drove off without making contact, soon after I arrived,” the trooper wrote. “Before I could exit my patrol vehicle, a female standing next to the blue Chevy began walking towards my patrol.

“Upon making contact with the subject,” the trooper continued, “I was able to determine some sort of distress was present [and Russell] appeared frightened and anxious.

“Russell explained she had been hearing voices coming from the floorboard of the blue Chevy she was driving. Russell stated she had pulled over to find her kids who were trying to climb through the floor of the car. Russell asked me to look for wiring or a device in the car because she thought there might be a bomb in the vehicle. Upon looking in the vehicle, I observed Russell had pulled up the carpet and backseat in the vehicle. I asked Russell if I could look in the trunk and she consented. My observations of the trunk were the same as that of the interior of the car. Russell had pulled the flooring and carpet out of the bed of the trunk.

“Russell was asked for identification and she stated she had it, but couldn’t find it. However, after several more times of asking, she located her ID in her back right pocket. Russell was asked if she had used illegal drugs, to which she replied ‘not today.’ Russell also advised she had no phone and no credit card.

“I asked Russell where she got the car, and she stated from a man named ‘Mark,’ and he was a friend.” The name of her roommate, who had rented the car, was redacted in the other arrest report. “Russell continuously changed her story on where she was, where she was going, and where she was coming from.”

The trooper determined “Russell met the criteria for a Baker Act, being that she was a danger to herself, given the situation,” but there was a change of plans.

The trooper “placed Russell in handcuffs” and searched her, and reported, “A small baggie of a white crystal substance consistent with methamphetamine was located in her front jacket pocket.”

For that reason, Russell ended up in jail, rather than a mental health facility.

She was charged with two felonies: being a habitual offender driving with a suspended license, and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.

Two months later, on Dec. 15, Russell was turned over to Osceola County authorities for grand theft auto. However, Gadsden County records show she still faces charges there, and she has an arraignment scheduled for Jan. 10.

Russell’s trouble with the law has come back to haunt her. Serving probation on two drug charges in 2011 was mentioned in a more recent report.

Russell’s arrest report from May 2022 in Osceola County said she “got into a verbal argument with [her estranged husband] and then struck him in the nose with her head.” Then, outside, she struck him “on the left side of his face multiple times with a closed fist.”

She ended up taking a plea deal, but then violating her probation in October by leaving Osceola County and getting arrested during a traffic stop in Brevard County.

“Russell appeared to slur her words, was unsteady on her feet, smelled strongly of the odor of an alcoholic beverage, and her eyes were watery and glassy,” the deputy wrote. “Ms. Russell informed me she was on probation and was aware her driving privileges were revoked for previous DUIs.”

Also, “Ms. Russell returned as a habitual traffic offender with prior suspensions for two prior DUI convictions;” plus, an out-of-county warrant was mentioned but no details given.

Plea Offer, Dec. 1, 2022 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd

In December 2022, Russell took a plea deal and was sentenced to 120 days in jail, with credit for 48 days, and three years of probation, due to end in 2026.

She got out in January 2023, but her probation didn’t last too long.

Violation Report, July 28, 2023 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd

Eight months later, her violation report from the state said she’d been caught driving with a suspended license in an unregistered car, and a host of conditions not met.

The probation violation led to an arrest warrant, but Russell, 36, wasn’t actually arrested until April 25, 2024. She was not offered bond.

On June 3, she was sentenced to 427 days in prison for felony DUI and being a habitual traffic offender, with all that time served, and she was released on June 10.

That’s likely when she moved in with her roommate, the man who rented the car, since she lived with him “for several months,” that arrest report from four months later, Oct. 13, said.