Two arrest for theft of utility trailers

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Department has recovered two of six utility trailers reported stolen in the county and arrested two individuals who had one of the trailers in their possession.

According to Sheriff John Root 21-year-old Daniel Witt and 22-year-old Dylan Southerland, both of London, were arrested Friday morning off of Upper Indian Camp Road in Keavy.

Deputy Kyle Gray reportedly received information from the owner after he saw the trailer posted for sale on Facebook Post.
Gray, working with Detective John Scott were able to track down the original seller of the trailer. Deputies then set up an undercover operation for that individual to meet and deliver a trailer to be purchase.

When Witt and Dylan arrived at the meeting place in a pickup truck, Root stated they were pulling a trailer that had been reported stolen from a residence off of Cotton Road.

Sutherland and Witt were each charged with one count of receiving stolen property of the value under $10,000 and lodged in the Laurel County Detention Center.

Root stated at least six trailers have been stolen within the last month. Three have been taken from private residences on Robinson Creek Road, Ward Cemetery Road and Good Branch Road. Two others have been taken from Lowe’s Home Improvement in London and Lowe’s in Corbin.

Two of those trailers have since been recovered.

“Most of the residential thefts of the trails are occurring during the day when homeowners are at work,” Root stated. “The business utility trailer thefts are occurring overnight.”

Root added that the stolen trailers are primarily single-axel models with a ramp and are valued between $1,500 and $3,000.

Root suggests that trailer owners lock up or otherwise secure their trailers. In addition, owners are asked to document the vehicle identification number (VIN) number of the trailer.

“If the trailer has no VIN number, owners should apply a unique number to the frame of the trailer,” Root stated.

In addition, trailer owners are encouraged to be aware of suspicious persons or vehicle in the area of their homes and write down license tag numbers and vehicle descriptions along with the time and date of any suspicious individuals or vehicles.

The London-Laurel County Crime Stoppers program is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the thefts.

Anyone with information about the thefts is asked to contact the Laurel County Sheriff’s office at 606-864-6600 or 606-878-7000.
Callers may remain anonymous.