Friday, May 27, 2011
Couple Sought In Shoplifting Incidents Crash Into Police Car while In Possession Of Meth Components
A local couple was arrested Wednesday after eluding law enforcement officials for nearly a week, then crashing into a police car with meth components in their possession.
The matter first came to light on Thursday, May 19, when Lawrenceburg Police Officers were called to intervene in a shop lifting instance at Walmart on North Locust Avenue.
A manager reported a couple had taken a large number of items from the store then loaded the items into their car at a “non-public” door. The couple refused to stop when ordered to do so by management, instead fleeing eastbound on Mattoxtown Road.
A Lawrenceburg Police Officer en route was speaking with a manager at the time and reports he saw the white car as the couple fled. He reports he engaged his lights and sirens and attempted to catch up to the car, but that he was unable to do so due to the fact that it was traveling at an unsafe speed.
A few moments later the officer was notified that a couple had stopped at a Mattoxtown Road home and abandoned a white Toyota car. The resident reported the man and woman were arguing in her yard when she came outside. She saw another car pull in and leave, but said she was uncertain whether the couple had gotten inside.
Inside the abandoned vehicle officers found a large amount of items believed to have been stolen from local businesses. Some 146 items, with a value of $1,456.46 were returned to Walmart.
Three items valued at $19.59 were found to have been stolen from CVS, eleven items valued at $341.20 from Tractor Supply Company, and several items were believed to have been stolen from Lawson’s Sporting Goods in Loretto.
A purse in the car contained identification showing that the female suspect was Brittany Louise Register, 24, of 2873 Highway 43 South, Loretto. Paperwork located in the car identified the male suspect as Jeremy B. Gieske, 33, of 458 Fairview Road, Loretto. Video surveillance and witness identifications allowed officers to make positive identifications of these suspects.
It was determined that the theft had been made at Walmart by use of a side door, not for use by the public. The couple allegedly used a similar side door at Tractor Supply.
Employees there found that the lock had been cut from an outside gate, allowing exterior access to the door. Video surveillance showed that while inside Walmart Gieske had been wearing a shirt stolen from Tractor Supply.
While working the case Thursday night, officers learned that the couple had approached a residence on Nix Road. They asked to use the telephone, telling the resident they had run out of gas and needed to call for help.
The resident told officers he had seen no vehicle. He was able to provide a telephone number called by the couple. He said they had called for someone to pick them up, but had left before anyone arrived.
Although an on-going effort was made to locate Register and Gieske, officers were unable to apprehend them until Wednesday, May 25. Officials with the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department report that they received information from a St. Joseph Police Officer, indicating that the couple had been spotted inside a vehicle in the area of Fairview and South Old Military Roads.
The on-duty supervisor with the sheriff’s department happened to be in the area at that time and hurried to the scene. When they attempted to conduct a stop on the vehicle, they report that the driver, Gieske, “attempted to flee in his vehicle again and struck the sheriff’s department unit with his vehicle” and that he “got stuck in a ditch in his failure to yield to emergency equipment.
At that time Gieske was placed under arrest on several felony warrants, as was his passenger Brittany Register. While conducting an inventory of the vehicle, agents report, “Several stolen items and components for the use of making methamphetamine were located.”
Officials report that the arrest of Register and Gieske resulted in the resolution of an aggravated burglary incident that had been under investigation, as well.
Both Gieske and Register were booked through the Lawrence County Detention Center on numerous charges, including numerous counts of theft, burglary, evading arrest, assault on a police officer, and various drug related offenses. Both currently remain incarcerated awaiting appearances in Lawrence County General Sessions Court.
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