Theft or embezzlement and recovery of registered vehicle – Notice required – Penalty

(a) The owner, lienholder or insurer of the owner of a registered vehicle that has been stolen or embezzled shall notify the Tennessee highway patrol or the local sheriff’s office or police department of the theft or embezzlement, but in the event of an embezzlement, the person shall make the report only after having procured the issuance of a warrant for the arrest of the person charged with the embezzlement. (A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, every person, other than a chauffeur, who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101Owner: means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof, with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this chapter and chapter 10, parts 1-5 of this title. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101Person: means a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, or an engaged ADS. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101(b) Every owner or other person who has given any notice under subsection (a) must notify the Tennessee highway patrol or the local sheriff’s office or police department of a recovery of the vehicle. (c) In the event the owner is notified by any law enforcement officer or by a garage or wrecker operator of the recovery of the stolen vehicle, it is the duty of the owner to immediately notify the owner’s theft insurer of the vehicle’s recovery and its location. (d) Any person, firm or corporation violating this section commits a Class C misdemeanor.