$20,000 recovered in power equipment theft

Two arrested

Two men were arrested on January 28 and charged with two counts each felony theft as a result of an investigation by Detective Mark Holt into the burglaries of at least twenty thousand dollars worth of power tools and equipment taken from several construction sites on Mikey Street, off of Upper Middle Creek Road.
Charged in the thefts were Michael James O’Connor and Bradley Edward Taylor, whom officers took into custody following a stop by Sevierville Police officer Graham Owenby. Also charged in connection with the burglaries was Ereica Renae Mayton.
Detective Holt was investigating a string of thefts in the immediate vicinity of the construction sites, when one of the victims in the burglaries observed a van parked in the area with an air compressor stowed inside that was strikingly similar to the one that he had just reported stolen, and reported this to Detective Holt. Acting on the information, Holt placed a preliminary description of the vehicle out to area law enforcement. Officer Owenby observed a vehicle roughly matching the description leaving Kim’s Super Pawn in Sevierville and stopped the van, holding it and the occupants until Detective Holt could arrive to identify the stolen property it contained and make the arrests. “Officer Owenby was quick to recognize the vehicle from the description, which was not 100% accurate,” Detective Holt told the Herald. “That was sharp police work.”