Police Recover Stolen Tractor and Arrest 2 Suspects

Bowie County Sheriff’s Office and Texarkana, Texas Police Department recovered a stolen Kubota Tractor and arrested two suspects for the theft Tuesday.

According to Bowie County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Jeff Neal, on March 3, 2015 around 12:00 am Deputy Chris Sutherland was dispatched to a stolen vehicle call in the 600 block of West Macedonia Road Texarkana, Texas. When Deputy Sutherland arrived at the location, he met with the victim of the theft Fred Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy reported that he was awakened by the sound of tires spinning in front of his home. He looked outside and saw his trailer being towed away from his yard. Loaded on Mr. Kennedy’s trailer was a Kubota tractor with attachments, two push mowers, a trimmer, a toolbox and a five gallon diesel can.

According to Neal, later in the day, the Texarkana Texas Police Department (TTPD) received a call of a vehicle attempting to steal a tractor that was stuck in a muddy field near Waterworks Road. TTPD Officer Dustin Thompson and Sergeant Chris Phelps responded to this call. They were able to locate Mr. Kennedy’s stolen tractor and trailer attached to a vehicle stuck in the mud. It was at this time a truck came driving down the muddy road towards them. When the occupants of this vehicle saw the officers, they let a passenger out of the truck and quickly turned around.

The passenger let out of this truck was identified as Lance Akheem Benton 19 years of age of Texarkana, Texas. Mr. Benton claimed ownership of the vehicle the stolen trailer was attached to, but claimed the driver of the truck that dropped him off was the person who got it stuck there. The truck Mr. Benton got out of was stopped by other officers as it was leaving the muddy field.

The driver of this truck was identified as Demarcus Darrell James 28 years of age of Texarkana, Texas. Mr. James claimed he had only been asked by Mr. Benton to help him get his vehicle out of the mud. Bowie County Sheriff’s Office Investigator David Biggar and Captain Jerl Palmore went to the site of the recovery of this stolen property to follow up on the investigation. Mr. Benton told Captain Palmore the same information he had given TTPD. He was subsequently arrested for Theft Over $1500 and Under $20,000. Mr. James was arrested for some outstanding warrants by TTPD while the investigation continued.

Investigator Biggar and Captain Palmore were able to recover the rest of Mr. Kennedy’s stolen property except for his toolbox. The location where the rest of these items were recovered was linked to Mr. James. He was later also charged with Theft Over $1500 and Under $20,000. Both of these arrested subjects had their bond set by Judge Gibson Hadaway at $20,000.00.