Officer Foils Theft While en Route to Work
By: APD Press Release
Updated: January 17, 2013
Early Thursday morning at about 5:40 a.m., Officer Jeremy Holmes was driving to the Law Enforcement Center (LEC) when he spotted two subjects in the dark of the morning near a vehicle in an alleyway.
The alleyway is in the 400 block of Willow Street and the subjects were adjacent to a fenced-in yard belonging to a local towing and recovery company. Officer Holmes thought something was suspicious, especially after seeing them quickly get into their vehicle and begin driving away from the location as he observed them.
Officer Holmes was in his privately owned vehicle and notified APD dispatch by radio of the circumstances. He continued to observe and then followed the subjects as they drove away. Officer Holmes believed that the subjects in the vehicle knew they were being followed and the subjects continued driving in a southern direction.
Officer Holmes followed the vehicle to South 8 and Rose where the driver of the vehicle drove into a ditch. Officer Holmes believed that the driver was trying to hide from him when the vehicle went behind some brush where a ditch was present.
The passenger of the vehicle, a male, exited the vehicle and began running away and was commanded by Officer Holmes to stop. The male subject complied with his command. The female driver was also contacted and both subjects were detained.
A large air conditioning condenser unit was located inside the vehicle on the backseat. The preliminary investigation revealed that both subjects were directly involved in the theft of this property from the towing and recovery company. Further investigation confirmed that entry to the yard was made through a large hole cut out of the chain-link fence.
The victim was contacted and responded to the crime scene as officers with the Patrol Division continued the investigation.
The victim confirmed his ownership of the property. The condenser unit contained copper and was valued at approximately $1,000. The subjects were identified as Theresa L. Pilcher, 31, and Justin R. Sales,32.
Both subjects were arrested for state jail felony theft of copper and taken to Taylor County Jail.
The alleyway is in the 400 block of Willow Street and the subjects were adjacent to a fenced-in yard belonging to a local towing and recovery company. Officer Holmes thought something was suspicious, especially after seeing them quickly get into their vehicle and begin driving away from the location as he observed them.
Officer Holmes was in his privately owned vehicle and notified APD dispatch by radio of the circumstances. He continued to observe and then followed the subjects as they drove away. Officer Holmes believed that the subjects in the vehicle knew they were being followed and the subjects continued driving in a southern direction.
Officer Holmes followed the vehicle to South 8 and Rose where the driver of the vehicle drove into a ditch. Officer Holmes believed that the driver was trying to hide from him when the vehicle went behind some brush where a ditch was present.
The passenger of the vehicle, a male, exited the vehicle and began running away and was commanded by Officer Holmes to stop. The male subject complied with his command. The female driver was also contacted and both subjects were detained.
A large air conditioning condenser unit was located inside the vehicle on the backseat. The preliminary investigation revealed that both subjects were directly involved in the theft of this property from the towing and recovery company. Further investigation confirmed that entry to the yard was made through a large hole cut out of the chain-link fence.
The victim was contacted and responded to the crime scene as officers with the Patrol Division continued the investigation.
The victim confirmed his ownership of the property. The condenser unit contained copper and was valued at approximately $1,000. The subjects were identified as Theresa L. Pilcher, 31, and Justin R. Sales,32.
Both subjects were arrested for state jail felony theft of copper and taken to Taylor County Jail.
