Trio Arrested for Theft 1-14-2013

JANUARY 14, 2013.

PRESS RELEASE

ParkerCounty Sheriff’s deputies made three arrests in connection with a theft in progress call Friday, Jan. 11, 2013.

Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said the incident was reported around 1:30 p.m. in the 11000 block of Old Agnes Road, in Springtown.

Witnesses reported three suspects were seen loading various items in the bed of the truck without permission from the property owner. The suspects were seen last heading north on Old Agnes Road in a white Ford pickup truck.

While Sheriff’s deputies were responding to the scene, they passed the vehicle on Highway 199 at which time, the vehicle voluntarily stopped.

The driver told deputies the vehicle was borrowed and he had been collecting scrap metal. Deputies verified the vehicle was indeed borrowed, yet, also noted several items in the bed of the truck including about $50-500 of metal and iron, a chest freezer, a table saw and copper wire.

A witness identified the suspects as two females and a male who had been seen inside a fenced area taking property from a radio tower site moments before the stop was made and loading it into the truck.

Deputies also discovered a 35mm camera, lens and tripod inside the truck.

The suspects, identified as Joseph Verlyn Guthrie, 34; Summer McDonald, 17; and Bianca Christine Smiddy, 23, all of Springtown, were arrested and charged with theft of property $50-500 and theft of materials copper, aluminum, brass, bronze under $20,000.

Guthrie later told Sheriff’s investigators he took the items from the radio tower site, knowing it belonged to AT&T.

As of Monday afternoon, the trio remained incarcerated. Smiddy and McDonald’s bonds were set at $6,000 each. Guthrie’s bond was set at $9,000.