Five arrested in Fort Oglethorpe during recovery of stolen vehicle

Five out-of-towners were arresting in Fort Oglethorpe after detectives were able to link them to a stolen vehicle out of Knoxville, police say.

According to the Fort Oglethorpe Police Department:

Whitney Alison Washington, 28, John Russell Stone, 19, Ashley Nacole Plemons, 28, Terry Dewayne Griffin, 36, and Bobbie Fay Helton, 25, all of Tennessee, were arrested Monday, Aug. 22, on charges of possession of stolen property.

Washington was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

As of Friday morning, Aug. 26, Plemons and Washington had been released from jail on bond, while Helton, Stone, and Griffin remained incarcerated with bonds set at $5,000.

Griffin also has a hold placed on him on warrants out of Bradley County, Tenn.

According to Lt. Steve Blevins, the FOPD was contacted by the Knoxville Police Department and asked to keep an eye out for a 2015 Honda CRV that’d been stolen in the Knoxville area the day before.

“We were assisting the Knoxville PD and they had information that the vehicle was in our area,” Blevins said.

Investigators actually located the vehicle at a residence on Cloud Springs Road, after someone had taken a couple of not-so-subtle measures to throw off authorities.

The vehicle was found backed up to the residence, but the license plate had been swapped with another vehicle that was also located in the driveway.

“They had switched tags so it’d be harder to spot,” Blevins said.

During questioning, detectives were unable to determine who exactly brought the vehicle from the Knoxville area due to no one admitting guilt, and the fact that all the suspects were from places like Knoxville, Sweetwater, and Lenoir City, Tenn.

“All five of the suspects were charged because none of them would own up to the theft,” Blevins said. “Now that they’ve been booked though, we’ve worked to get that booking information to the Knoxville PD. I believe there was video footage of the theft, so maybe they’ll be able compare their booking photos to the video they have and determine who stole the vehicle.”

Blevins added that Washington was found to be in possession of drug paraphernalia after being arrested.

“She had needles and things like that on her, and it wasn’t for insulin,” Blevins said.

One officer was actually stuck by a needle during the whole ordeal, and Blevins says the department has had that officer take the proper precautions and testing to ensure the officer’s safety.