Towing duo charged with car theft

A pair of men accused of towing away a car, thus stealing it from its rightful owner, were bound to the grand jury this week amid their claims they had bought the vehicle from another man for $150. The defendants, Scotty Smith and James Cook were both bound to the grand jury on charges of theft over $1,000 for taking a car belonging to Charles Drake. The charges came after Drake passed the men on the road as they were towing a car from an address on Dogtown Road. The car, given to Drake by his brother, had been parked at the address for several years. The vehicle, which Drake valued at $2,500, had not been driven in years and was not in running order. According to Drake, the men were in the midst of towing off the vehicle when he caught them just after noon. The gas tank had been removed from the vehicle at the scene and the steering column broken to allow the car to be towed. Drake said the men were cooperative when he confronted them, even going to the point of towing the vehicle to the place of his choosing and requesting that he not involve the law in the incident. Given the claims by the men, Cook’s lawyer, Steve Roller suggested the men were under the impression they had legally bought the car and that the case was not criminal, but should instead by decided in civil court through a lawsuit. However, Judge Larry Ross pointed out Drake has the legal title in his possession and that the suspects had no bill of sale since they claim they had bought the car from another individual, a person who obviously had no claim to the car. ‘It’d be one thing if they had a receipt,’ Ross said, leading Roller to say he will attempt to find the mysterious individual his client said sold him the vehicle. ‘We’ve got to find this guy,’ Roller said of the man who allegedly sold the car to his client. ‘Yeah, people like that are always hard to find,’ Ross said, binding the men to the grand jury on the theft charge. Cook was given five days in jail for violation of probation.