Booze bandit suspect identified

By Greg Bird
birdman@tmcvoice.com

McCreary County Sheriff Randy Waters announced Tuesday he has identified a suspect in the case of the stolen tractor-trailer full of alcohol discovered in Pine Knot last month, and will be pressing charges.
Sheriff Waters stated he was able to identify a possible person of interest in the case after examining security camera footage of the facility where the rig was found and tracking down the owner of the vehicle seen meeting with the driver of the truck earlier that morning. On Tuesday the Sheriff spoke with the individual, who reportedly confirmed his role in the theft, and potentially identified a second suspect in the case.
The investigation is ongoing as the Sheriff is working with a Detective from Missouri on the case in that state. He expects to present evidence to the McCreary County Grand Jury to seek indictments against the suspects.
On February 22, the Sheriff’s Department was alerted to the location of the trailer after the owner, B&Z Logistics of St. Louis, Missouri, was able to ping the vehicle using GPS tracking. The trailer was found at the D.H. Campbell lot still attached to the cab.

The trailer’s markings, including registration and license plate were painted over with red paint. A paint roller and other evidence of materials that could have been used to disguise the markings were found inside the cab of the vehicle.
Security camera footage shows the truck pulling in to the lot Saturday morning. The footage shows the driver of the semi parking and being met by a second individual, who then proceeds to unload some of the inventory from the truck and place it in a second vehicle before driving off. A while later the second vehicle returns and picks up the driver and leaves the area.

Both the trailer and cab were impounded by the Sheriff. The trailer, valued at $30,000, with more than $100,000 of cargo, was recovered by the distribution center.