Floyd man is suspected in string of thefts totaling $250,000
16 hrs ago | 808 views | 2 
| 5 
| 
| 
| 5 | | collaborative effort between police agencies and a little luck may have stopped a lengthy rash of trailer thefts throughout Northwest Georgia.
Several hundred thousand dollars worth of utility trailers and construction equipment have been reported stolen during the past 10 months, and police are saying much of it can be attributed to one man.
Warrants for felony theft by taking and theft by receiving were sworn out for Randy Lee Carter, 45, of Floyd County, on Tuesday. Carter is already in jail in Polk County on a probation violation charge.
Carter allegedly stole $250,000 worth of trailers and construction equipment, said Floyd County police detective Jeff Jones.
“They were taking trailers from Floyd County and surrounding counties as well, removing the VIN number and replacing it with a fake VIN number,” Jones said. “The trailers were then relabeled and sold in Tennessee,” Jones said.
“Just in the Rome and Floyd County area we had 16 or 17 thefts,” he said. “There were also thefts in Whitfield County, Bartow County and Gordon County.”
Once police learned the thefts were taking place in multiple jurisdictions, Jones and Rome police detective Pete Sailors teamed up.
“We’ve received information about Carter being suspected in the thefts,” Jones said. “This year we were able to uncover some things that led to these charges.”
A security video shot during a suspected trailer theft near the Celanese community was one of those breaks in the months-long investigation. The grainy footage shows a man unhooking a trailer from one truck.
The detectives said one of Carter’s alleged methods, as a former repo man, was to take the trailers during the middle of the day.
The video allowed for a positive identification for Carter, Sailors said, and the investigation took off.
“We were able to get a location on him and started looking at his associates,” Sailors said.
They tracked his activities into several other Northwest Georgia counties, which then led to Tennessee, where he allegedly resold the stolen goods, police said.
About $25,000 worth of trailers and equipment was recovered in the Volunteer State, but much of the valuable equipment once loaded on the trailers is still missing.
‘Worth every penny’
Carter’s alleged Celanese theft was captured by a video camera system that cost only $750.
The low-profile system shows a suspected trailer theft outside Empro, an electrical contracting service.
Owner David Roberts said the cameras were worth every penny. Roberts said he decided to install the system because a dump trailer was stolen from another business location.
Roberts originally offered a $500 reward for information leading to the recovery of the trailer, which was valued at more than $1,300. While he did receive an anonymous call, identifying Carter as the culprit, Roberts never had to pay out any reward money.
And he got the trailer back. As Roberts pulled into the Cleveland, Tenn., impound lot, he noticed his trailer looked a little different. The thieves had painted it black and removed its identification number.
“Well, it needed a paint job anyway,” Roberts said with a laugh.
The thieves changing identifiers of the equipment for resale has caused another snag in the case — locating the rightful owners.
Many of the victims already have picked up their trailers from the impound yard, but others may not even know their equipment has been recovered.
Police are hoping to return the stolen equipment to their rightful owners. For additional information about the equipment, call Sailors at 706-238-5118 or Jones at 706-291-5223.
Even with this recent bust, detectives said trailer owners and construction crews should remain vigilant and secure their equipment.
“This was a big bust,” Sailors said. “But he’s not the only (one) out there trying to take a trailer.”
Several hundred thousand dollars worth of utility trailers and construction equipment have been reported stolen during the past 10 months, and police are saying much of it can be attributed to one man.
Warrants for felony theft by taking and theft by receiving were sworn out for Randy Lee Carter, 45, of Floyd County, on Tuesday. Carter is already in jail in Polk County on a probation violation charge.
Carter allegedly stole $250,000 worth of trailers and construction equipment, said Floyd County police detective Jeff Jones.
“They were taking trailers from Floyd County and surrounding counties as well, removing the VIN number and replacing it with a fake VIN number,” Jones said. “The trailers were then relabeled and sold in Tennessee,” Jones said.
“Just in the Rome and Floyd County area we had 16 or 17 thefts,” he said. “There were also thefts in Whitfield County, Bartow County and Gordon County.”
Once police learned the thefts were taking place in multiple jurisdictions, Jones and Rome police detective Pete Sailors teamed up.
“We’ve received information about Carter being suspected in the thefts,” Jones said. “This year we were able to uncover some things that led to these charges.”
A security video shot during a suspected trailer theft near the Celanese community was one of those breaks in the months-long investigation. The grainy footage shows a man unhooking a trailer from one truck.
The detectives said one of Carter’s alleged methods, as a former repo man, was to take the trailers during the middle of the day.
The video allowed for a positive identification for Carter, Sailors said, and the investigation took off.
“We were able to get a location on him and started looking at his associates,” Sailors said.
They tracked his activities into several other Northwest Georgia counties, which then led to Tennessee, where he allegedly resold the stolen goods, police said.
About $25,000 worth of trailers and equipment was recovered in the Volunteer State, but much of the valuable equipment once loaded on the trailers is still missing.
‘Worth every penny’
Carter’s alleged Celanese theft was captured by a video camera system that cost only $750.
The low-profile system shows a suspected trailer theft outside Empro, an electrical contracting service.
Owner David Roberts said the cameras were worth every penny. Roberts said he decided to install the system because a dump trailer was stolen from another business location.
Roberts originally offered a $500 reward for information leading to the recovery of the trailer, which was valued at more than $1,300. While he did receive an anonymous call, identifying Carter as the culprit, Roberts never had to pay out any reward money.
And he got the trailer back. As Roberts pulled into the Cleveland, Tenn., impound lot, he noticed his trailer looked a little different. The thieves had painted it black and removed its identification number.
“Well, it needed a paint job anyway,” Roberts said with a laugh.
The thieves changing identifiers of the equipment for resale has caused another snag in the case — locating the rightful owners.
Many of the victims already have picked up their trailers from the impound yard, but others may not even know their equipment has been recovered.
Police are hoping to return the stolen equipment to their rightful owners. For additional information about the equipment, call Sailors at 706-238-5118 or Jones at 706-291-5223.
Even with this recent bust, detectives said trailer owners and construction crews should remain vigilant and secure their equipment.
“This was a big bust,” Sailors said. “But he’s not the only (one) out there trying to take a trailer.”
No comments:
Post a Comment