The U-Haul was loaded (with stolen tires from local car dealerships)...
That's The Way The Wheels Roll...
Alleged Tire Thieves Caught by Chance, LIVINGSTON, September 1, 2015 - By chance, two alleged tire thieves were caught this morning (September 1, 2015), when they were involved in an accident. The alleged thieves were driving a U-Haul box truck and made an unsafe lane change on the south-bound side of US-59 directly in front of the Gabriel Jordan Ford Dealership (struck by an 18 wheeler). The collision caused both vehicles to slide into the center median. Both vehicles were now disabled. At this point, there was nothing suspicious about the wreck and things seemed pretty routine. Nobody was injured, nobody was intoxicated, everybody's driver's licenses came back clear. Initially, the U-Haul was going to be towed by Fawbush Wrecker Service, but there was a change of plans and LakeView got the job. LakeView Driver, Jeff Parkman recovered the U-Haul and was taking it to his lot. As a courtesy, he was taking the U-Haul occupants to Burger King in Livingston per their request. Suddenly, Parkman got a call on his cell phone from detectives to bring the two men, driver Richard Riley, 41, of Houston, and his passenger, Johnny Davis, 46, of Houston, back to the scene of the accident. Parkman obeyed and brought Riley and Davis back. The reason? Shortly after they had left, calls started coming in to local law enforcement (Polk County Sheriff's Office and Livingston Police Department) from Bounds Autoplex and Gabriel Jordan Ford in regards to multiple vehicles with stolen tires and rims. Once law enforcement were alerted about the stolen tires, they told Parkman to come back. When Parkman arrived, Troopers Donny Akers, Corporal Ramey Bass (Texas Highway Patrol) and Sergeant Lee Rogers (Polk County Sheriff's Office) opened the roll up door of the U-Haul and viola! A load of brand new tires with rims complete with a hydraulic jack. Johnny Davis and Riley Richardson were both arrested on the spot and transported to Polk County Jail.
Moral of the Story... If you're gonna steal tires, be careful when you're lugging those things around! Tread lightly, ya just never know what turn of events could take place and you could find yourself all jacked up (and deflated).
Corporal Ramey Bass spoke with 41 year old Riley Richardson earlier. A short time later, Richardson was arrested.
Richardson's passenger (and alleged partner in crime) 45 year old Johnny Davis, of Houston, is escorted in cuffs, by Trooper Donny Akers to a patrol unit.
Wrecker driver, Jeff Parkman speaks with detectives about his ride with the two alleged thieves.
The U-Haul was loaded with stolen tires and rims from Bounds Autoplex and Gabriel Jordan Ford (notice hydraulic jack).
Johnny Davis was loaded into Trooper David Morris' patrol unit.
Gordon Short's 18 wheeler was recovered by Clifton Chevrolet out of Corrigan.
Mixi was on duty for PolkCountyToday.com.
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