Proactive policing is being credited with the recovery of tens of thousands of dollars worth of stolen property in White County. The discovery led to the arrest of one suspect.
White County Sheriff’s Captain Rick Kelley said in a news release that Sunday morning around 3 AM deputies spotted a suspicious vehicle parked at a used car lot on Highway 129 south of Cleveland. Contact was made with a female driver in a 2013 Nissan Altima. She stated that she was waiting for her boyfriend. Kelley said, after talking with the female, the deputies became suspicious of her story.
The deputies decided to break off contact with the female, but still remained in the area. About an hour later, they observed a white van pull off of Eagle Rock Road at a high rate of speed and pull up next to the same 2013 Nissan Altima.
Deputies made contact with the driver of the van, identified by Kelley as Sean Thomas O’Connor. After some investigation, the deputies discovered that the van had just been stolen from a non-occupied residence off of Song Bird Drive, and that same residence had also been burglarized.
A sheriff’s investigator was called to the scene and the investigator working with the deputies collected evidence and recovered property. According to Kelley, officers were able to recover about $20,000 in stolen property to include electronics, guns, and jewelry.
The suspect Sean Thomas O’Connor was taken into custody and Captain Kelley said he was charged with 2 counts of Burglary, 1 count of Possession of tools for the commission of a crime, 1 count of Criminal Damage to Property 2nd degree, and Theft by Taking.
The case remains under investigation.
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