Man arrested for vandalizing police vehicles at City Hall
A Ringgold man is behind bars in Catoosa County facing multiple felony charges after he allegedly vandalized four police vehicles at City Hall and was involved in a theft with damage at a local business.
According to the Ringgold Police Department:
William “Billy” Lindsay Stephens, 44, of LQ Ware Lane was arrested Dec. 6 on charges of theft, entering an auto, criminal damage to property, and interference with government property. His bond has been set at $12,500.
On Tuesday morning, Dec. 6, Police Chief Dan Bilbrey was alerted to vandalism on City Hall property, which included visible damage to several police vehicles.
“We had a stop sign on top of the light bar on the roof of a vehicle, a concrete block on a hood, and tires on windshields,” Bilbrey said. “We had four of our vehicles damaged, and probably thousands of dollars worth of damage.”
A propane bottle was also found on the hood of a Georgia probation vehicle that’d been left parked at City Hall, as well as writing on City Hall windows, and used tires strewn about, reports show.
“We had city court the previous night, so we were under the belief that the incident may have been attributed to court,” Bilbrey said.
Video surveillance footage was reviewed from the City Hall cameras, which appeared to show the offender driving an extended-cab Ford truck.
The police department was then notified of another incident at the Five Star Foods, in which someone had trespassed and damaged their property.
Video surveillance was reviewed at Five Star Foods, which showed the same man from City Hall committing the crimes.
Bilbrey says his staff was able to post photos of the man on social media and were able to get him identified pretty quickly.
“We received information that our suspect was Billy Stephens of Ringgold,” Bilbrey said.
Officers were able to track Stephens down and take him into custody. Bilbrey says Stephens confessed to being responsible for both incidents when interviewed by detectives.