Five arrested in vehicle thefts
Two men and three teenagers have been arrested on charges of theft by receiving and fleeing in connection with nine vehicles stolen in Texarkana, Texas.
The vehicles were stolen during the weekend from an auto auction business in the 900 block of Elm Street, according to information from the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department. Someone used one of the cars on the lot to drive through a gate on the back side of the fence.
Since the thefts were reported to police on Monday, several local teenagers have been arrested; more arrests are expected.
About 10:50 p.m. Monday, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers were dispatched to a vehicle crash in the George Thomas Road area in Bowie County. After they arrived, they realized the vehicle was one of those stolen from the auto auction. David Lee and Hayden McLeod, both 18, were in the vehicle and were arrested on suspicion of theft of property.
While officers were working that crash, a vehicle drove up but turned around when the driver saw the troopers. When the troopers tried to stop that vehicle, it immediately fled at a high rate of speed. After a lengthy pursuit that ended when the vehicle crashed in Texarkana, Ark., all four occupants fled on foot. Two girls, ages 13 and 14, and a boy, 14, were arrested by Texarkana, Ark., Police Department officers and the troopers. All were charged with theft by receiving and fleeing, and they were taken to the Miller County Juvenile Detention Center.
Lee and McLeod are both being held in the Bi-State Jail with $10,000 bonds.
All but one of the stolen vehicles have now been recovered from locations in both Texarkanas and in Bowie County. Several vehicles were abandoned after they were wrecked.
DPS, the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office and the TAPD helped the TTPD investigate the case.