Walker County Sheriff’s Office detectives are investigating a large theft at Jenkins Chrysler Jeep Dodge in LaFayette, Ga., according to Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson.
By Monday evening, authorities began recovering some of the vehicles. Two were located in the area of the 600 block of Bella Vista Drive in Chattanooga. Chattanooga Police and Walker County detectives have been working through the evening following leads.
A Chattanooga man who was found to be driving one of the stolen vehicles was arrested and booked into the Hamilton County Jail on a felony charge.
He was identified as 22-year-old Corey M. Fletcher, Jr. of a Chattanooga address.
The five recovered vehicles were being hauled to LaFayette for processing.
Three vehicles remain unaccounted for as of late Monday night.
Between 12:50 and 6 a.m. on Monday, a Chrysler vehicle with five people entered the dealership parking lot. All individuals went to the rear of the service department where they made entry into the dealership by prying a rear door open.
Once inside the building, the thieves accessed the keys to eight vehicles parked on the car lot. Evidence reveals that all eight vehicles left the dealership going north on U.S. Highway 27. The suspects returned multiple times to the dealership in order to remove the vehicles.
The vehicles that were stolen were:
- a red 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee
- a silver 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee
- a white 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee
- a green 2020 Dodge Challenger
- a green 2021 Jeep Wrangler Sport
- a silver 2020 Jeep Wrangler Sport
- a green 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
- a purple 2021 Jeep Wrangler Sport
A $2,500 reward is being offered by Jenkins Chrysler Jeep Dodge and the Walker County Sheriff’s Office for information that leads to the recovery of the vehicles and the arrest and conviction of the responsible parties.
Any information should be directed to Det. Sgt. Walt Hensley 706-639-0839 or whensley@walkerso.com.