The theft of a four-wheeler along with farming equipment from a workshop near Itta Bena Friday adds to a rash of utility-vehicle thefts in and around Leflore County this fall, Sheriff Ricky Banks says.
"I think we've just got a ring in this area going from county to county getting them," Banks said. "Carroll County and we, too, have had a rash of four-wheelers stolen in the last month or so."
Banks noted also a four-wheeler that was stolen in Humphreys County and found in Holmes County. The Sheriff's Department also recovered one in Minter City last week that was stolen in Tallahatchie County.
There is at least one four-wheeler stolen in Leflore County, from a Humphrey Highway address, hasn't been recovered, and several remain missing in Carroll County, according to Banks.
He suspects the thieves are turning around and selling the stolen vehicles for profit.
The latest incident resulted in the arrest of two Moorhead men. John Lewis, 38, and Henry Lewis, 35, who share P.O. Box 793, were still in jail this morning, charged with commercial burglary.
The two men are accused of breaking into Walter Pennebaker's farm shop, which is west of Itta Bena, and taking a Honda ATV, an air compressor and various tools, according to Banks. Nearby residents reported seeing the two men hiding the stolen items and leaving the scene, Banks said.
Sheriff's deputies later found the four-wheeler stashed in some woods down the road from the shop, where the men were planning to return, Banks explained.
"They were in a car, so they didn't have a way to carry the four-wheeler," he said. "What they were going to do is come back later and see if they could pick it up."
The Sunflower County Sheriff's Department assisted Leflore County deputies in arresting the two suspects in Moorhead.
