CRIMINAL INCOMPETENCE?

LUCKY BREAK FOR MARTIN COUNTY DEPUTY WHEN MAN ARRESTED AFTER AUTOMOBILE WRECK WHO HAD MULTIPLE POWER TOOLS IN HIS POSSESSION; A WEEK LATER THE SAME MAN ON VIDEO TAPE BURGLARIZING GARAGE AND STEALING SAME TOOLS THAT WERE CONFISCATED DURING TRAFFIC STOP

NOT THE LUCKIEST (AND SMARTEST) BURGLAR: TOMMY FLETCHER IN OCTOBER 21 MUGSHOT.

A Martin County man was arrested on Monday, October 22, after a police investigation connected him to a recent theft of more than a thousand dollars worth of power tools from a garage; following an investigation by the Martin County Sheriff Department of a car crash that happened on Sunday, October 14 that would lead to burglary theft discovery via video evidence.

On October 14, a Martin County resident reported that someone stole 3 Stihl weed eaters and a Stihl chainsaw valued at a little over $1,200 from his garage. 

That same day, deputy Chris Todd was getting fuel for in his patrol car at Horn’s BP station in Milo, when Todd said that he  when he said he heard what sounded like a crash and that  he saw a car lose control. As deputy Todd went to investigate, he said he found Tommy Fletcher, who had lost control of his 2005 white Ford Mustang. 

When Fletcher fled the scene in his car and was heading towards the Lawrence County line, deputy Todd pursued him in a short pursuit.When Tommy Fletcher finally pulled over and when Deputy Todd got to the vehicle, he noticed Fletcher had three weed-eaters inside his vehicle, along with a chainsaw. Deputy Todd questioned Fletcher about who owned the items and where did they came from, Fletcher allegedly said he did not know nothing about them.Deputy Todd eventually arrested Tommy Fletcher on 3 motor traffic citations and also took the weed-eaters and the chainsaw into possession.

The 3 charges that Fletcher was charged with were: • NO OPERATORS-MOPED LICENSE,  • RECKLESS DRIVING, • FAILURE OF OWNER TO MAINTAIN REQUIRED INSURANCE/SECURITY, 1ST OFFENSE.

On Sunday, October 21, deputy Todd was working the burglary case and spoke with Johnny McCoy, the owner of the garage whose tools were stolen from. McCoy showed deputy Todd video footage of a White Mustang drive onto his property on October 14. The video showed that the operator of that vehicle, positively identified as Tommy Fletcher, going into McCoy’s garage and removing the missing items from the scene and placing them into his vehicle and then drive off. 

On Monday morning, October 22, deputy Todd obtain a warrant and served the  warrant on Tommy Fletcher and once again placed him under arrest, charging him with: • BURGLARY, 3RD DEGREE,which is a felony. Fletcher was taken to the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center in Paintsville. 

The total value of the three Stihl weed eaters and Stihl chainsaw was $1,200. The weed eaters and chainsaw were officially recovered and returned to Johnny McCoy. 

This case remains under investigation by deputy Chris Todd. This case makes the third time this month that the Martin County Sheriff Department has recovered a large number of stolen tools and eventually returned them to their owners.