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LAKE PLACID - A Russian figure skater in town to compete in this past weekend's Skate America event was arrested for allegedly stealing a car from a local garage and driving drunk. But his attorney says police may have got it wrong.

Andrei Lutai, a 23-year-old from St. Petersburg, Russia, is currently in the Essex County Jail in Lewis facing charges of third-degree grand larceny, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, third-degree unauthorized use of a vehicle and aggravated driving while intoxicated.

Lutai allegedly stole a 2008 Chevrolet Impala parked along Main Street next to Central Garage around 10:45 p.m. Sunday. Lake Placid Police Sgt. Carol Hayes said employees of the business witnessed the theft and immediately called police. One employee got into a vehicle and followed Lutai.

Within five minutes, police spotted the Impala and pulled Lutai over. He was found to be intoxicated and arrested, Hayes said.

Police initially had difficulty communicating with Lutai because of the language barrier, Hayes said. A coach at the U.S. Olympic Training Center who speaks Russian was brought in to serve as a translator.

Lutai was arraigned before village Justice Margaret Dorn and remanded to the Essex County Jail in Lewis in lieu of $100,000 cash bail. He's scheduled to appear in village court again at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Hayes said she didn't know why Lutai stole the Impala. The keys had been left inside the vehicle.

"We're not treating this differently than any other arrest," Hayes said. "There's been a lot of questions on this, and the phone has been ringing. We treat everybody as fairly as we possibly can."

Jay Strack, who works at Central Garage and whose family owns it, said the Impala belongs to a customer and was parked along the road at the time it was allegedly stolen. Strack said he didn't know any more about what happened.

Brian Barrett of Lake Placid is serving as Lutai's defense counsel. He said he was contacted by the Russian Consulate because he's representing a Russian boxer who's facing federal drug conspiracy charges.

Barrett said he expects Lutai's case to be resolved quickly because he said there were conflicting reports from witnesses about whether Lutai was the one who stole the vehicle and was behind the wheel. He said the Impala was already pulled over, next to the Econo Lodge on Cascade Road, when police showed up.

"I don't believe he was properly identified and I don't believe he was actually witnessed by police driving the motor vehicle," Barrett said. "At the time of the arrest, there were also serious communication problems with Mr. Lutai."

Barrett said he's had to use a translator - a Russian coach - to communicate with Lutai, who he said should be presumed to be innocent until proven otherwise.

"He's very disappointed," Barrett said. "He's a world class athlete who has been accused of some very serious crimes. Fortunately nobody was hurt. Even figure skaters, on occasion, make mistakes."

Lutai finished 10th in the men's competition at Skate America. Barrett said the rest of the Russian team left Lake Placid on Monday.

Considered a strong contender for the Russian Olympic team, Lutai placed 10th at last year's world championships and finished third at the Russian national figure skating championships the same year.

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Contact Chris Knight at 891-2600 ext. 24 or cknight@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.