Oconee County sheriff’s deputies are searching for an Atlanta man who ditched a stolen red Buick Reatta when officers spotted him driving it Sunday on Georgia Highway 15 south of Watkinsville.

Deputies recovered the car, which Putnam County authorities reported missing over the weekend, but said the wanted man — David Agan, 42 — disappeared after leaving the car near a home on Old Greensboro Road.

Investigators later arrested April Merritt, 32, of Greenville, S.C., on a charge of driving with a suspended license as she trolled up and down Old Greensboro Road, possibly looking to pick up Agan, deputies said.

Chief Weems was kind enough to drop into the comments of the news story and post the specifics of the case. Looks like April is the world’s worst getaway driver for Greenville’s least competent booster ring:

We received a call from a concerned citizen about two cars traveling north on HWY 15. We made contact with the vehicles south of Watkinsville and attempted to stop the Buick based on its driving. When the deputy attempted to contact the driver, the car sped off and the deputy pursued but lost sight of the vehicle.

We got another phone call from an area resident about someone jumping out of a car behind their house and running into the woods. We did a K9 track through the woods, but the track ended at another roadway.

At the time of the initial contact, the car had not been entered into the system as stolen. That entry was made during the above described incident. The car was stolen in Putnam County.

The second car from the original call was located circling back through the area. That car was stopped, and the driver was arrested for driving on a suspended license.

Based on information gathered by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and our interviews with the female driver, we have learned that they were en route to Greenville, SC, and we believe that he was picked up by a family member and has reached the Greenville area.

Warrants have been obtained in Oconee County. I am not sure if the PCSO has obtained warrants at this time.

I’m no expert but a good thief isn’t conspicuous enough that the cops know they’re parents picked them up after a crime. Way to hook up with pros April, though let’s be honest, they’re not the ones in jail.

ANDERSON COUNTY — The driver and passenger involved in a police chase that reached 70 mph through downtown Anderson and Honea Path, have been charged. The chase happened early Wednesday.

The driver, Franklin Keith Graham, 25, of 360 Fairforrest Way, Greenville faces charges from the Anderson Police Department and the Honea Path Police Department.

In Anderson, Graham has been charged with grand larceny with a value of $2,000 to $10,000, said Sgt. Tony Tilley, spokesman for the Anderson Police Department. Graham also was charged with failure to stop for a blue light, driving under suspension and possession of methamphetamine.

Honea Path police charged Graham with second degree assault because he used his car as a weapon when he drove toward an officer, according to Police Chief David B. King. Graham was also charged with malicious damage for using his car to hit an Anderson Police cruiser.

Graham’s passenger, Melanie Renee Ferguson, 27, of Greer has been charged with accessory to felony.

Surprise! Meth was involved. At least no one was hurt.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

Poole is suspected in a carjacking that took place at Cherrydale Shopping Center this morning.  Investigators believe he struck a 68-year-old woman in the head multiple times before fleeing the scene in her vehicle, a red 1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with the  South Carolina license plate AIZ570.

Poole will face charges of strong arm robbery, carjacking, and grand larceny in connection with today’s crime, but he was already a wanted man.  News Channel 7 reports:

Poole has been charged with burglary and grand larceny in connection with an incident at the Travelers Rest Tire and Muffler Shop between November 2-3. On November 4, Bo Nats, a business on Poinsett Highway in Greenville County was broken into and deputies say that Poole was responsible for that incident and have charged him with second-degree burglary and petit larceny.

Investigators with the Sheriff’s Office Auto Theft unit have charged Poole with grand larceny and possession of a stolen vehicle after Poole allegedly stole a vehicle from a family member on two seperate occasions. Poole has also been charged with failure to stop for a blue light and driving under suspension after an incident on Stallings Road on November 13.

During that incident, a Sheriff’s deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Poole, who was operating the vehicle that he had just reportedly stolen from the family on Meece Bridge Road. Poole allegedly disregarded the deputies attempt to pull him over and recklessly fled the area without concern for the safety of others.

Joseph Poole’s behavior has become increasingly aggressive, and area residents are urged to contact the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office (864-467-5300) or Crime Stoppers (23-CRIME) with any information.  Crime Stoppers is offering up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest.

Update, 11/20/09:
[On Friday morning Greenville Police recovered the 1992 red Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme stolen by Joseph Poole during Thursday's carjacking.  The search for Poole is still underway.]

Update 2, 11/20/09:

[Joseph Poole has been arrested near Bob Jones University. Please read our latest update for further details.]

Police Chief Lance Crowe said one of his officers turned out of the hospital and noticed Bradley Long driving 20 miles over the speed limit. She followed him until he got off on a side road, Crowe said. The officer said the teenager got back on the highway after she passed by him, which made her suspicious. She turned on her blue lights to pull him over, and that’s when the chief said Long sped off.

Crowe said Long crashed in a ditch soon after he took off. He was able to get his truck out of the ditch, but hit the front end of the officer’s car. Another chase began, but ended when he crashed a second time, Crowe said.

Long tried to escape, but the officer used a Taser to stop him. Back-up arrived and the teenager was taken into custody, according to the chief.

Crowe said Long was booked at the Greenville County jail. The chief said Long might have been trying to get away because he was driving with a suspended license and did not have permission to use his father’s truck, which was badly damaged in the chase.

Something tells me Bradley Long is in big trouble.  How scary does your father have to be for you to crash a truck twice in a police chase and still try to run off when the only thing you’ve done wrong is taken your dad’s truck? I guess not quite scary enough to straighten this idiot out.

From WYFF4:

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Police are looking for two people who stole the catalytic converters from three vehicles parked at Jeff Lynch Appliance and TV Center.

Last Sunday, a Jeff Lynch employee called police to report that the catalytic converter, valued at $750, had been cut from his vehicle, along with those from two other vehicles.

Investigators said the converters were cut from the vehicles with a tool that left no jagged edges.

A white Dodge Magnum with tinted windows and a South Carolina was seen on surveillance video near the vehicles. Two people were also caught on camera moving back and forth between the vehicles.

Catalytic converters are stolen and sold for a small amount of precious metals in them. They can cost thousands to replace, but stolen ones are generally sold for about $150.

Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 23-CRIME.

If you’re parking somewhere long term make sure it’s in a visible area. Looks like an investment in a car alarm might be a prudent idea.