A Fort Worth man was taken into custody Wednesday night on a felony theft charge, after he was caught with a trailer allegedly stolen from a local apartment complex, according to arrest reports.
At 9:30 p.m. March 27, Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper William Gillentine reported stopping a Chevrolet Trailblazer on State Highway 11, after noticing the trailer it was pulling did not have any trailer or brake lights. After contacting the driver, identified as 40-year-old Rusty Allen Fisher, Gillentine noticed the unit’s registration sticker had expired more than a year ago.
When the trooper asked the Fort Worth driver about the violations, Fisher allegedly showed the trooper a citation Sulphur Springs Police Officer Justin Findley had issued him earlier in the day. Gillentine then reportedly advised the man he would be receiving a ticket for the expired registration as well as a warning for no trailer lights.
Gillentine too asked Fisher why the Trailblazer didn’t have a front license plate. Fisher allegedly told the trooper he took possession of the trailer from another man to work on it but had no knowledge of the trailer’s contents nor did have a key to open it.
Fisher and the passenger, identified in arrest reports as to be Fisher’s daughter, reportedly gave conflicting stories about where they got the trailer. Fisher allegedly claimed they got it from a house behind the library, while the passenger said they picked the trailer up from behind some abandoned apartments near Interstate 30. Fisher claimed he didn’t know why his daughter gave a different story about the trailer. When asked, the trooper reported, Fisher was unable to produce a registration or any proof of ownership for the trailer. Then, Fisher claimed he was actually repossessing it, but didn’t have a license to do so, the trooper alleged in arrest reports.
SSPD Officer Justin Findley was asked to assist Gillentine in sorting out the “trailer issue.” Findley arrived and contacted another police officer, who went to the abandoned apartment complex to check out the passenger’s story. The complex owner was reportedly contacted. She allegedly told police she is in the process of selling the complex, along with a an enclosed trailer containing $15,000 to $20,000 worth of tools and remodeling materials. She told authorities no one was supposed to have the trailer, Gillentine wrote in arrest reports.
Consequently, the trooper arrested Fisher on the theft charge. Findley transported Fisher to the county jail, where he was booked into custody about 12:33 a.m. Thursday on the felony charge of theft of property valued at $2,500 or more but less than $30,000, according to jail and arrest reports.
Fisher remained in the county jail late Wednesday morning; his bond was set $5,000 on the charge, according to jail reports.
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The Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office is located at 298 Rosemont Sulphur Springs, TX 75482. You can reach them for non-emergency matters at (903) 438-4040.
