Thieves take tractor from Moultrie auction facility

Published 10:44 pm Thursday, April 18, 2013

Thieves broke into DeMott Auction overnight Wednesday and drove off with a tractor and trailer.

Colquitt County sheriff’s Investigator Shannon Hart said employees of the company, located at 1894 Sylvester Highway, found the theft when they got to work Thursday.

Hart said the thieves cut the lock off the gate to get in the yard, then loaded a John Deere 5210 tractor on one of the company’s trailers, hooked the trailer to a dually truck they came in, and drove away.

The tractor was valued at $16,000 and the trailer at $5,500, Hart said.

The theft is reminiscent of the theft of a John Deere tractor from a fenced area on Ellenton-Norman Park Road Feb. 17. The thieves in that case used essentially the same methods to take that tractor, valued at $45,000.

Hart asks if anyone knows anything about either theft to contact the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office at 616-7430.

Other thefts

Moultrie Police

• Three men were charged with shoplifting Wednesday after an off-duty Colquitt County sheriff’s deputy thought one was acting suspiciously in the parking lot.

According to the Moultrie Police report, Deputy Joy Chapman stopped Willie Mack, 72, of Leesburg, as Mack pushed a shopping cart with two television sets to a silver car. Chapman asked if Mack had a receipt for the TVs, and Mack said a man inside the store had it, the MPD report said.

Paul Nixon, 47, of Albany, and Al Childs, 32, of Albany, joined Mack outside, but none of them had a receipt for the TVs, police said.

Employees in the store had noticed Nixon and Childs behaving suspiciously in the store, including leaving a buggy of merchandise inside when they left, police said.

The two televisions were valued at a total of $642, but the Walmart loss prevention officer said he would prepare a detailed list of any other items taken.

• Jennifer Marie Hooker, 36, was charged Wednesday with theft by taking. Hooker is accused of taking money from the cash register at Home Depot, where she was working. The total money taken over time was estimated at $600, which has not been recovered. Police said she was also fired at the time of her arrest.

• Sheryl D. Evans, 47, of Dawson, was charged Wednesday with theft by shoplifting. Evans is accused of trying to exchange stolen merchandise for a refund at Belk, according to the Moultrie Police report.

Sheriff’s Office

• Linda Simpson, 100 block Cherry Avenue, reported that she had $231 on the dresser in her bedroom as of 3:30 or 4 p.m. Tuesday, but it was missing as of 7:40 a.m. Wednesday.

• Teresa Coleman, Indian Lake Drive, reported someone stole two lawn chairs, an inoperable washing machine, a fiberglass drum and four pressure-treated 2-by-4s from the back side of her residence Wednesday. The total value of the stolen items was $342.

Fraud

Moultrie Police

• Keanna Lashae Bradford, of Moultrie, reported Wednesday that someone had opened a loan using her information, and the loan company keeps contacting her employer, Sanderson Farms, to collect her payment. Bradford said her house was broken into about a month ago, and many of her personal documents were taken.

Sheriff’s Office

• Debra Taylor, 1900 block Georgia Highway 37 East, reported Wednesday that Jackson Hewitt Tax Company had told her someone used her Social Security number for a tax return check, and CVS Pharmacy had told her someone used her name and Social Security number to purchase medication.

Battery

Moultrie Police

• Carl Dawson, 500 block Third Street Southeast, reported a man he knew only by a nickname attacked him about 11 p.m. Wednesday outside his residence.

• Ricky Lewis Forrest, 1300 block 13th Avenue Southwest, told police Thursday morning that someone spray-painted his 2002 Chevrolet Impala overnight.

Arrests

Moultrie Police

• Jennifer Alvarado, 17, 1161 Coventry Circle, was charged Wednesday with driving without a license.

Sheriff’s Office

• Chearkee Lee Weldon, 34, of Lakeland, was charged Wednesday with probation violation.

• Tevin Shaqil Hightower, 19, 706 Covington Circle S.E., was charged Wednesday with probation violation.