In recent days, Pro Auto Brokers has been the target of car thieves, as the used car dealer had four cars stolen from its facility on Ringgold Road.
According to a police report, last Thursday an officer was on patrol just before 5 a.m. when he noticed a door to a car on the lot was open. The officer pulled into the lot and also saw an open garage door to the building, as well as a second car with a door open. The report states the officer also saw that the fencing around the lot had been damaged and that several car keys were scattered around the lot. Upon further investigation it was discovered that a glass panel to the garage door had been punched out and some glass was broken in a door that leads to the business’s office. A Mercedes Benz SL5 that was on the scene was heavily damaged on the front half of the vehicle.
Investigators were called to the scene and the owner of the business met them there at 7 a.m. The owner said that two vehicles were missing; a silver 2006 Lincoln Town Car and a bronze 2005 Chevrolet Colorado truck. The report states that the Colorado had been reported as wrecked an abandoned in Chattanooga just before 5 a.m. The vehicle’s connection to this case was not made at that time, the report states. The vehicle was found near the intersection of Westside Drive and Highway 41 on the Chattanooga side of the Bachman Tunnels. The Lincoln was entered into a data base as stolen.
The report states that the owner of the business also reported that titles to 12 vehicles were taken during the incident. Two of those titles belong to the Town Car and the Colorado truck.
Police were called to the address again on Monday. According to a separate report, the owner told police that someone had stolen a white Ford F-150 and a silver Totoya Corolla from the lot. In this incident the fence around the lot was also damaged. Both vehicles were entered into a law enforcement data base as stolen.
The report states there is no suspect information at this time.
Jeremy Ryan Gladden
_ Police have arrested a man they believe is responsible for the theft of a pickup truck from Parker Auto Sales late last month.
Jeremy Ryan Gladden, 27. of a Cohutta, Georgia address, was charged with Theft over $1,000. It is unclear when he will appear in East Ridge Municipal Court.
According to an affidavit of complaint, the theft was reported on Oct. 27. The 1995 Chevy Silverado disappeared from the lot in the overnight hours. The owner of the car lot told police that a white male in the company of a woman had shown interest in the truck on the previous day. The couple had taken the truck for a test drive after the man offered up his Georgia drivers license in order to be allowed to take the vehicle off the lot. Gladden’s name was on the drivers license, the report states.
According to the report, Gladden returned the truck to the dealer after taking it for a 45-minute spin. When a worker at the car lot parked the truck, he noticed that the key didn’t work as it should. A closer inspection of the key indicated that it may have been a reproduction of the original key, and the business owner suspected that Gladden may have had it made during the test drive.
The report states that Gladden left his driver license at Parker Auto Sales. According to the license, his address was on Mount Vernon Street in Cohutta.
According to the report, investigators checked out Gladden’s Facebook page and it was discovered he was trying to sell a transmission and gearbox from a 1995 Chevy Silverado truck. Georgia law enforcement authorities were notified to keep watch at Gladden’s place for the Silverado. On Nov. 1, Whitfield County deputies were summoned to an address on Old Tunnel Hill Road on a suspicious vehicle. The location, the report states, is less than a mile from Gladden’s listed address.
Once on the scene deputies confirmed and recovered the stolen 1995 Silverado. The truck was towed to a lot where investigators recovered evidence linking Gladden to the truck. A shirt from Gladden’s employer was found in the cab, and the transmission and gearbox in the photos on Gladden’s Facebook page were in the bed of the pickup.
