On Nov. 18, a Greene County deputy arrested two men on multiple charges after his preliminary investigation revealed that neither of them owned the truck they were driving, the trailer they were pulling, or the car on the trailer.
Dion Roy Evans, 30, of 1597 Terry Mill Rd., Atlanta, was charged with two counts of theft by receiving stolen property, failure to maintain lane, and possession of a vehicle with altered identification. Cortavian Laron Winston, 21, of 3105 Sanford St., Covington, was charged with two counts of theft by receiving stolen property, possession of a vehicle with altered identification, and giving a false name or address to law enforcement officers.
According to the incident report, Deputy Leo Sierra initiated a traffic stop on a red Ford F-150 pulling a U-Haul trailer with a black Dodge Charger near milepost 131 on I-20 eastbound for failure to maintain lane.
Evans was driving and told Sierra he was hauling the Charger to a shop in Aiken, S.C., on behalf of a client. He also said the F-150 belonged to the passenger, later identified as Winston.
Winston said the truck belonged to his cousin, but Georgia Crime Information Center data indicated that the F-150 belonged to 52-year-old Samuel Chase.
A GCIC inquiry into the U-Haul trailer revealed that it had been stolen earlier in the month from Massachusetts and entered into GCIC by the Lowell Police Department. Evans told Sierra he had picked the trailer up in Massachusetts approximately two weeks prior and had paid approximately $2,000 to a third party who had rented it.
Still, according to the report, Evans had no physical documentation from U-Haul. Also, a GCIC inquiry concerning the Dodge Charger revealed that it had been stolen in McDonough the evening before and entered into GCIC by the McDonough Police Department.
Evans insisted the car belonged to a customer and was sure it was not stolen. A pat-down of Winston revealed an after-market key fob to the Dodge Charger, which could crank the stolen Dodge Charger on the stolen U-Haul trailer.
According to the report, a search of the trailer tag through Flock showed that the same Ford F-150 pulled the same trailer with different cars in the Atlanta area within the past few weeks.
The report confirmed that one of the vehicles in the Flock video had fled and eluded another law enforcement agency.
The owner of the U-Haul trailer was contacted, and they confirmed that it had been stolen in Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago.
The Dodge Charger's owner, Michael Gibbs, was also contacted. He said that the Charger had been stolen while he was staying at a hotel in McDonough.
Although the trailer had no visible damage, the Dodge Charger had extensive damage to the interior dashboard, and the VIN sticker on the driver’s side door had been removed.
Evans and Winston were then arrested and transported to the Morgan County Jail, and the two vehicles and trailer were taken to the impound lot at the sheriff’s office's impound lot.
When the jail staff collected the fingerprints of the subjects as part of the booking process, it was revealed that Winston had provided a false name and date of birth.
A criminal history report on the suspects said both had been previously charged with theft by receiving stolen property, theft by conversion and operating a vehicle chop shop.