Published: October 02, 2008 09:35 am      

Couple lead escape ... at the impound

Arrests made after pair drive through fence at wrecker lot

A man and woman were arrested Tuesday night after retrieving an impounded pick-up truck and crashing it through the gate at a wrecker yard in Eustace.

Thirty-three-year-old John B. Riggs and 37-year-old Patsy Hutchins, both of Red Oak, were booked into the Henderson County Jail on charges of theft of service and criminal mischief. Bond on each was set at $2,000.

Henderson County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Pat McWilliams said the chain of events began Saturday when the proprietor of an Exxon station located on U.S. Highway 175 in Eustace noticed that a 1999 Mazda pick-up had been abandoned on store property. The proprietor called Billy Oates’s Wrecker Service to tow the vehicle.

McWilliams said Riggs and Hutchison learned that the pick-up had been called away and arranged for a friend to give them a ride to the wrecking service.

“The owner of the vehicle called and asked how much it would cost to get the vehicle out,” McWilliams said. “He then called an individual and asked him to take him over there so he could get his valuables out of it.”

McWilliams said Riggs jumped the fence and went to the pick-up as if to retrieve his belongings. Instead, he jumped in the Mazda and started the vehicle, then drove it through the fence. A short time later, the truck was reported stolen.

At 10:22 p.m. Tuesday, Department of Public Safety Trooper Mitzi Storey saw the vehicle parked beside the road on Loop 7 in Athens with Hutchison inside, asleep. HCSD Deputy Josh Rickman was dispatched to the scene along with Deputy Mitch Baker. Officers arrested Hutchison and a short time later located Riggs walking back from Wal-Mart.

“They got in a lot more trouble by taking the vehicle,” McWilliams said. “All they had at first was a wrecker fee against them.”

Avoiding the wrecker fee resulted in the theft of service charge. The criminal mischief charge was because of damage to property at the wrecker service, McWilliams said.