Wed. Nov 6th, 2024
Two people have been formally charged in Camden County with one felony count each of stealing a catalytic convertor.
Sergeant Scott Hines says it didn’t take very long after the initial report to take the two individuals into custody.
“We got a call from a local businessowner that had these two characters on video. When we went down to the business and talked to the business owner, looked at the video, and then we actually found those guys just a couple of miles down the road. They were standing in front of another business.”
32-year-old Chad Brown, of Camdenton, and 30-year-old John Lawrence, of Lebanon, were both taken into custody.
Lawrence has since been transported on a parole violation to the department of corrections while Brown was initially released before being picked up on his charge Tuesday afternoon.
“Unfortunately, due to some time constraints and the time of the arrest and the time of the warrant served on the vehicle that were covered, the delay in getting the charges, essentially it outran our 24 hours investigative hold.”
Catalytic convertor thefts continue to be a problem not only here in the lake area but also nationwide with the number of reported cases up by some 500-percent over the past year.