Flat tire foils plot to steal from cars
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on October 12, 2007 2:26 PM
Using a car stolen out of the Dudley area proved the downfall of two Dudley teenagers -- and a flat tire might have kept them from getting away, authorities say.
James Timothy Sauls Jr., 19, Fulton Road, and John Henry Waters, 17, Mitchell Road, both face one count each of felonious larceny and possession of stolen property, Wayne County Sheriff's Detective Keith Hart-zog said.
The detective said that Golds-boro police made the initial arrest of Waters and Sauls in the city, on East Lockhaven Drive.
The pair had stolen goods in a 1999 Nissan Maxima reported stolen from Dudley, a theft Hartzog was investigating.
"They were stealing stuff out of cars and bringing it back to this one with the intentions of driving away with it," Hartzog said.
Some of the stolen goods included CDs and jumper cables stolen from other vehicles, the detective said.
But they did not get away before the arrival of Goldsboro police, most likely because of a little trouble with the stolen vehicle, the detective said.
"The reason they hadn't left is they had a flat tire on it," the detective said.
Hartzog started checking around, and found out the two men had been riding around in the stolen vehicle.
That "put the vehicle in their hands within a couple hours time frame" of the theft of the Nissan Maxima in Dudley, the detective said.
Both men denied being involved with the theft of the vehicle, the detective said.
"They were both saying that they didn't know anything about the car being stolen, that the other one must have stolen it," Hartzog said.
Sauls and Waters were each jailed in lieu of $10,000 secured bond, the detective said.
Two juveniles who were with Sauls and Waters have not been charged, but the detective would not rule out charges for them either.
"We haven't really decided what we're going to do on them," Hartzog said. "We haven't got enough information on them to say whether they were involved or whether they were just getting a ride."