More than $200,000 in ATVs, vehicles from four states seized after major theft ring discovered in Mississippi
Published 11:29 am Tuesday, November 30, 2021
More than $200,000 in stolen ATVs and vehicles were seized after the theft of an ATV in Kentucky led law enforcement to the discovery of a theft ring in Mississippi.
The theft ring out of Olive Branch was discovered after deputies in Western Kentucky responded to the report of a stolen ATV worth $20,
The resident on State Route 994 between Boaz and the McCracken County and Graves County line reported to the Graves County Sheriff’s Office that a 2021 Polaris General side by side UTV stolen from their residence, overnight.
In reviewing the victim’s surveillance video, sheriffs investigations learned that two persons pushed the ATV out of the suspect’s yard into a field.
The suspects then came back and pulled by hand the victim’s 18-foot utility trailer out to the road, hooking it up to the suspect’s pickup truck. The ATV was then loaded onto the victim’s trailer.
During the investigation, deputies learned that one of the pieces of equipment stolen was equipped with an electronic tracking device.
Using the tracking device, deputies determined the location of the stolen items was at a large complex of buildings 3-hours south in the Olive Branch area.
Graves County, Kentucky, Sheriff Jon Hayden and Det. Snapper Seaton went to Olive Branch and requested the assistance of the Olive Branch Police Department.
“Once making entry into one of the locked businesses, detectives found approximately 9 large ATV’s each valued in excess of $20,000 including the stolen Polaris from Graves County. All of the ATVs were found to have been stolen from the states of Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky,” reported a post on social media from the Graves County Sheriff’s Office. “Two automobiles were also recovered that had been stolen from the Memphis Tennessee area. Initially, approx 20 to 25 persons were detained by police.”
One man was arrested on the scene by Mississippi authorities on numerous counts of Receiving Stolen Property.
The investigation continues by multiple law enforcement agencies in Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, along with the Graves County Kentucky Sheriff’s Office.
“The significance of this seizure of stolen property indicates this to be a large theft ring being operated in at least four states and the fencing of this stolen property in Olive Branch Mississippi,” the post on social media said.