Police Return Jerry O’Connell’s Vintage Cadillac That He Didn’t Even Know Was Stolen: ‘This One Is on Me’

Jerry O’Connell is laughing off a scary situation.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to PEOPLE that a restored 1979 Cadillac was stopped by a Malibu/Lost Hill Sheriff’s Department officer after it was observed speeding on the Pacific Coast Highway on Jan. 14.

“During the detention, the Sergeant observed that the driver appeared to be unhoused and, during questioning, was unable to identify the registered owner of the vehicle,” the department told PEOPLE.

The car ultimately was returned to O’Connell after deputies determined it was registered to his family, NBC 4 reported. He and his family were unaware that the car had been stolen because they were out of town, the outlet reported, citing the sheriff’s department.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told PEOPLE that the man was arrested and transported and booked at the Malibu/Lost Hills Station. After processing, the suspect was released on a promise to appear.

O’Connell confirmed that his car had been stolen in a series of posts to his X account later shared on his Instagram on Friday, Jan. 23.

“Just to be clear, I am not the homeless man in this story. Very grateful for @LHSLASD THANK YOU!!!,” he wrote alongside a repost of the New York Post‘s story about the theft.

O’Connell shared the post to his Instagram account, where he took responsibility for the theft, sharing that he left the keys in the vehicle’s center console.

“MY BAD. This one is on me,” he wrote.

His third post to X read: “Again @nypost I am not homeless and I did not steal Tom Cruise’s car. Thank You Lost Hills Sheriffs for getting my car back @LHSLASD.”

The incident comes four months after O’Connell’s cell phone and wallet with a few hundred dollars in cash were stolen during a yoga class at a Los Angeles-area studio in Sept. 2025.

According to NBC4, a woman whose identity was not publicly revealed asked to use the restroom and feigned being late to class.

“I wear the same pair of dirty old sneakers to yoga class and before class,” O’Connell told PEOPLE. “I took them off and slipped my wallet and phone into the dirty shoes. I’ve done that over 100 times — I know this because my app says I’ve taken 107 classes.”

After telling the front desk attendant what happened, they checked the yoga studio’s cameras and saw the woman who reportedly has a history of yoga studio thefts.

“You can see her saying, ‘Oh shucks, I’m late for class,’ and she bends down next to my dirty shoes and pulls out my wallet and phone, and leaves,” he said.

Ultimately, the actor was able to cancel his credit cards, but not before some damage was done, including “almost $500 at a department store and 100 bucks at the gas station.”

He also said that there were some irreplaceable items inside his wallet. 

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“The only real bummer is that I had a photo of Rebecca [Romijn] from high school in my wallet, a four-leaf clover Jack McBrayer had given me, a $2 bill I got while shooting Stand By Me, and my grandfather Charles Witkowski’s obituary,” O’Connell said.