Warrant issued for theft of scrap metal
Trinity Standard -

TRINITY – An arrest warrant for a Walker County man suspected to be involved in the theft of scrap metal from a Carlisle area business was issued Tuesday. Pct. 1 Constable Woody Wallace said Jeffery Ray Davis, 50, was wanted in connection with a theft from the B.C. Powledge lot on FM 356 near Carlisle. Wallace noted that while Davis has a Kansas driver’s license, he is believed to be residing in Walker County. He noted that the suspect currently is being held in the Walker County Jail after being arrested in that county over the weekend on a burglary charge. On Jan. 25 another suspect, Raymond S. Donaldson of Pasadena was arrested on the Powledge lot and charged with trying to steal an old work truck. Pct. 1 Deputy Constable Randy Barrett made the arrest when he found a wrecker hooked up to the old truck. Wallace said following that incident, members of Powledge’s family noticed a number of pieces of scrap metal also were missing. On Friday, one of the family members went to check on the lot and found two men on the property along with a pickup pulling a flat-bed trailer. “When the family member confronted them, they took off toward Onalaska,” Wallace said. The family member then called Wallace who headed toward the property. The Onalaska Police Department also was notified. “They were stopped in Onalaska and when we got there, they didn’t have anything that was taken from the lot. We questioned them, but had to let them go,” the constable said. However, they did seize the trailer when the two men in the pickup claimed it had been borrowed but then could not provide a name for its owner. While the two suspects were released at that time, Wallace said he and the Powledge family member began checking with scrap metal dealers in the Huntsville area. When then went to one located off I-45 in Huntsville, the family member immediately spotted an unusual set of saddle tanks on top of a pile. The item consisted of two 100-gallon tanks painted blue that were connected into a saddle tank configuration. “The owner of the scrap yard was able to identify one of the men we had stopped earlier as the man who sold him the tanks,” Wallace said. Based on that information, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Davis, who he identified as the driver of the pickup that was stopped in Onalaska. Wallace said the scrap yard has video tapes and noted he will be reviewing them to determine if a second suspect was on hand when the saddle tanks were sold. Depending on the results of that review, additional charged could be filed.