Former Top Cop’s Car Stolen From Funeral Home
Of all the places to steal a car from, of all the people to victimize, 47-year-old Lucien Howard Cato chose to take former Police Chief Harold Jennings’ Toyota Camry from a funeral home parking lot during the visitation for another former police chief, Mike Bridges, on Saturday evening.
The stupidity (and classlessness) of this crime is so mind boggling that it’s no surprise the thief was allegedly under the influence.
A police officer assigned to security detail at the visitation said he watched Cato drive the car out of the parking lot of the Thomas McAffee Funeral Home on North Main Street, according to a police incident report. The officer thought Cato was acting suspicious and driving erratic, so he followed the vehicle. A short time later, the car crashed into the light pole.
After the crash, police confirmed that a purse belonging to the wife of former Greenville Police Chief Harold Jennings was stolen from the funeral home. The keys to the Camry were inside the stolen purse, the report said.
Cato was injured in the wreck and taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital, where he was treated.
Cato has been charged with third-degree burglary, grand larceny, driving under the influence, driving under suspension, driving without a license, and driving too fast for conditions. He is being held at the Greenville County Detention Center in the psychological services unit.
Ronald Epps Turns Himself In
Ronald Jermaine Epps, the 38-year-old man wanted for stealing a parked vehicle with a baby inside, has turned himself in to Greenville County Sheriff’s deputies.
Investigators have been talking to people that knew Epps over the past few days, urging them to get Epps to turn himself in. Epps is charged with kidnapping and grand larceny. He is currently being questioned by investigators at the Greenville Law Enforcement Center.
Video surveillance and witness accounts led investigators to take out warrants for Epps on Tuesday. The crime occurred in the early hours of Monday morning when a woman left her granddaughter in her running truck while she went to get coffee at the Spinx station at 1520 S. Pleasantburg Drive. The child was returned to her family unharmed.
Ronald Epps Wanted for Greenville Kidnapping & Auto Theft
The man suspected of stealing a truck with a 10-month-old baby inside has been identified by the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office as Ronald Jermaine Epps, 38.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday morning when the baby’s grandmother stopped her truck to get coffee at the Spinx station at 1520 S. Pleasantburg Drive. While she was in the store, the running truck was stolen with the baby inside.
The child was recovered unharmed, but deputies are still searching for Epps, who they identified based on surveillance footage and witness statements. He faces kidnapping and grand larceny charges, according to warrants. Please call Crime Stoppers at 23-CRIME if you have any information.
Happy Ending in Greenville Kidnapping
Update, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010: [Police believe they have identified the kidnapper/auto thief as 38-year-old Ronald Jermaine Epps. Warrants have been issued for his arrest. More information available here.]
But only because the kidnapper was of the accidental variety, as in he was looking to boost a car and happened to pick one with a sort of anti-lagniappe inside. From WYFF:
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The person who stole a truck from a Greenville County convenience store got quite a surprise after he took off: a 10 month old baby was inside.
Deputies said the initial call came in as a stolen truck and kidnapping at about 1:45 a.m. Monday.
It all started when a grandmother was taking her 10-month-old granddaughter for a car ride to get her to sleep, deputies said. The grandmother stopped to get coffee at a Spinx Burger King located at 1520 S. Pleasantburg Drive, and left the truck running with the baby inside, they said.
While she was inside the store, investigators said someone got in her truck and drove off.
Deputies think the thief didn’t know the baby was in the truck because they said a short time later the driver stopped at a random house on Piedmont Highway. The thief told the people who lived there that he was with the sheriff’s department, and left the baby with them, investigators said.
The baby was unharmed and was reunited with her family.
Fox Carolina is reporting that though gentle with the baby the suspect is most definitely hard on cars, since he’s going through them so quickly:
While deputies were talking to the grandmother, a parent of the child arrived at the store and gave deputies the child’s personal information. As they were talking, investigators learned that the child had been dropped off at 428 Piedmont Highway.
The two people at the Piedmont residence said a man had come to the door with the girl in the car seat and told them he was with the sheriff’s department and handed them the baby. He then fled again in the stolen vehicle.
EMS crews went to the residence and said the child was in good health and unharmed and the girl was returned to her parents.
The stolen pickup was recovered later Monday morning in a wooded area near a residence on Englewood Drive.
The resident, Virgie Ashmore, called the Sheriff’s Office at 7:37 a.m. Monday to report that someone had left the stolen Nissan truck in the woods near his house and then stolen his burgundy 1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass from his driveway. The car has the tag CDG-163. The vehicle also has a “Buckle up with Jesus” tag on the front.
Ashmore believes there were several people in the truck when it was abandoned but he did not see who stole his car.
Investigators believe that the man who stole the pickup is the same man who stole Ashmore’s car.
Investigators described the man as black, wearing jeans, a gray hooded sweatshirt and a dark brown jacket.
Anyone who has information in connection with these cases is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 23-CRIME.
If you were one of the millions of people taking up survivalism you would call this whole incident a failure of OpSec, or operational security. These days you have to lock your car even if you’re just running into a store for a minute. Most importantly, you have to keep children with you at all times, at least within arm’s reach. This time it was pure luck that the “kidnapper” was just some joyrider (although many armed robbers use stolen vehicles as getaway cars) with enough conscience to make sure the baby lived through his crime.
The next time who knows?
Deputies Arrest Joseph Raymond Poole II, Violent Carjacking Suspect
One of Greenville County’s Most Wanted was apprehended near Bob Jones University tonight following a high speed chase on Wade Hampton Blvd. Joseph Raymond Poole II was taken into custody after stop sticks were used to slow down the stolen vehicle he was driving. He abandoned the car and was captured by deputies a short time later.
WYFF4 has more:
Deputies said they caught Joseph Pool II after a police chase on Highway 91. Poole was spotted in a car that police said he stole earlier in the morning from Train Auto Sales on 1127 N. Pleasantburg Drive.
Police said the chase went from North Pleasantburg to Wade Hampton Boulevard.
Joseph Poole is being charged with strong-armed robbery, carjacking, and grand larceny, according to Fox Carolina. A high profile manhunt for Poole began Thursday after he carjacked and beat a 68-year-old woman in the parking lot of the Cherrydale Shopping Center. No word on whether Poole will face charges for the assault.