Defendant Guilty of Extortion Try for Holding Car Hostage

A North Hollywood man was found guilty Wednesday of attempting to extort $200 from the Hertz Corp. by threatening to chop up a stolen Lincoln rental car last fall.

The San Fernando Superior Court jury also Thomas Martin, 33, guilty of receiving stolen property. The two-day trial was held before Judge Ronald Lew.

Martin phoned the car rental company Sept. 23 and said that, unless he was paid $200 or given a one-way airline ticket to Boston, the stolen 1985 Lincoln Towncar would be “chopped up,” the prosecution contended.

Martin testified that he detained a man he said stole the car at Hertz’s request by providing him with liquor, drugs and women in a Hollywood motel room. He told jurors that a Hertz employee had offered $200 as a reward for recovering the stolen vehicle.

Martin will be sentenced June 24. He faces up to four years and eight months in state prison on the conviction, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth L. Barshop said.