A Liberty man who stole a car at a Brookhaven hotel because he needed a ride has been jailed in Amite County, police said.

Trent Hutson, 27, was arrested in Amite County Saturday on a felony charge of auto theft, said Cpl. Jonathan Alford of the Brookhaven Police Department. Hutson’s girlfriend, 24-year-old Courtney Sierra Benton, was also arrested Saturday in Amite County on a charge of receiving and possessing stolen property.

Alford said the two are known in the Brookhaven area.

Police were called Friday shortly after 4 p.m. about an employee’s vehicle stolen at Holiday Inn Express on Brookway Boulevard. A witness told police he saw the suspect take the car. Alford said the keys were left in the vehicle.

“The witness said the man said he needed to get a ride to go somewhere,” Alford said.

The vehicle was discovered Saturday abandoned on Montgomery Road in the Bogue Chitto area and Alford and a deputy with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office recovered items from the car for evidence.

Benton was arrested when she was found with some of the victim’s personal belongings that had been removed from the car, he said.