Taking a car without permission — a friend’s, a family member’s, an acquaintance’s — can become a criminal charge in New Jersey even if you fully intended to bring it back. The law calls it unlawful taking of a means of conveyance, often known as “joyriding,” under N.J.S.A. 2C:20-10. It’s distinct from auto theft, and that distinction matters a great deal to the outcome.
Joyriding vs. auto theft
The key difference is intent to keep the vehicle:
- Theft of a vehicle (under the general theft statutes) requires the purpose to permanently deprive the owner of the car — to keep it, sell it, or strip it.
- Unlawful taking / joyriding (2C:20-10) applies when a person takes, operates, or rides in a vehicle without the owner’s consent but without that intent to permanently deprive — the classic “I was just going to use it and bring it back.”
Because joyriding doesn’t require the intent to keep the car, it can apply in situations the person never thought of as “stealing” anything.
How it’s graded
Unlawful taking is graded by the circumstances — ranging from a fourth-degree crime up to a third-degree crime depending on factors like operating the vehicle (versus merely being a passenger) and the risk created. Either way it’s an indictable offense that creates a criminal record, the kind of stakes we explain in disorderly persons vs. indictable offenses.
The situations that lead to these charges
- Borrowing a family member’s car without permission — common in disputes between relatives or exes.
- Taking a friend’s vehicle after a misunderstanding about permission.
- Young people using a car they weren’t authorized to drive.
- Riding along in a vehicle others took.
Where these cases get defended
- Consent — whether the person actually had permission, or a reasonable belief they did (a recurring issue among family members and exes).
- Knowledge — for passengers, whether they actually knew the vehicle was taken without consent.
- Intent — distinguishing a temporary taking from the permanent-deprivation intent the State might claim to charge it as theft.
For eligible defendants — often young people with no record — diversion through Pretrial Intervention can resolve the case without a conviction, and juvenile cases proceed through the juvenile system.
Charged with taking a vehicle? Permission is the key question
Many of these cases come down to a genuine dispute over consent, not real criminal intent. If you’re facing a 2C:20-10 charge anywhere in New Jersey, it’s worth a free call before you explain the situation to anyone else.
Part of our complete guide: For every related New Jersey offense, claim, and defense in one place, see our NJ Criminal Charges Guide.