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A 72-year-old woman from Long Valley reported her 2015 Gray Nissan Murano with handicapped placecard hanging from the rearview mirror as stolen around 2:10 p.m. Tuesday, Hackettstown police said.
The woman told police she had the key fob but didn't know if the car was locked.
Nine hours later, a Hackettstown officer noticed a 2015 Gray Nissan Rogue parked in the lot of a closed Main Street business -- right near where the Murano had been parked earlier, police said.
The officer ran the plate and the vehicle came back to a 78-year-old male from Califon.
Washington Township police were contacted to check the man's address for the stolen Murano, where authorities found it.
The man accidentally took the wrong car because it looked similar and even had a handicapped placard hanging in the rearview mirror, authorities said.
Many Nissan models have the intelligent key system with a push-to-start ignition, and will only start when the fob is inside of the vehicle, its website says.
It's unknown at this point how the vehicle was able to be driven away. No charges will be filed.
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