January 9, 2024 – The following Press Release was received from Hopkins County Sherrif’s Office Chief Investigator Corley Weatherford.
On Saturday, January 6, 2024, Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation regarding a victim of theft claiming they had information their stolen Lamborghini was in Hopkins County, Texas. The victim had previously reported their vehicle stolen in Houston, Texas, and hired a private investigator to assist with the Houston investigation. The owner was able to track their vehicle to a residence in Hopkins County and went to the location. The owner, who had a key to the vehicle used their key to activate the car’s lights and observed the lights and horn inside the garage.
Hopkins County Deputies and investigators attempted to make contact with the homeowner, but no one would come to the door. Investigators made contact with the homeowner, Everett Van Jennings, by phone. Mr. Jennings initially spoke to Investigators by phone but refused to return home. He claimed to be out of state. Mr. Jennings stopped speaking with Investigators and would not answer or return phone calls.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for Mr. Jennings’ residence. Additionally, Investigators and Deputies spoke to Family members who also refused to assist law enforcement with gaining lawful entry into the residence. Due to a lack of cooperation, Hopkins County Law Enforcement gained entry into the residence.
Once inside the residence law enforcement confirmed there was no one inside the residence. During a search, Law Enforcement located the stolen Lamborghini and two additional stolen vehicles. The stolen vehicles are valued at approximately $500,000.
Law enforcement found considerable evidence inside the residence of VIN swapping, including paraphernalia used in the practice. VIN swapping is a common practice in the auto theft world to attempt to hide the true identity of a stolen vehicle and elude detection by law enforcement. In this case, the Lamborghini did not have the VIN swapped, like the other stolen cars. However, Mr. Jennings had taken a personal license plate from another Lamborghini and affixed it to the stolen vehicle, in an apparent short-term attempt to mask the stolen car’s true identity.
Sgt. Investigator Todd Evans, who is assigned to the Northeast Texas Auto-Theft Task Force is continuing to investigate this case with the assistance of other Auto-Theft Investigators and Hopkins County Investigator. Based on evidence obtained in this case to date, two felony arrest warrants have been issued for the arrest of Mr. Jennings for Theft of Property over $300K, a First-Degree Felony and Placement of a Serial Number with intent to change identity, a Third-Degree Felony.
On January 9, 2024, Jennings turned himself in to investigators at the lobby of the Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office.
Jennings remains in the Hopkins County Jail awaiting bond to be set on the two felony charges.
If you have an emergency, dial 9-1-1
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.
