Men caught on stolen ATV

WMPD arrest pair for theft

Operating an off-road all-terrain vehicle on a busy street in West Memphis late last Wednesday evening shortly after 11 p.m. is sure to attract the attention of suspicious police officers curious to know what the two occupants were up to.

And, sure enough, as officers followed the late model Polaris Ranger side-by-side on the West Service Road they observed the driver turn into the Extended Suites where they immediately ran the vehicle’s identification numbers only to learn that it had been listed as stolen, Assistant Police Chief Robert Langston said.

Langston said Carl Edward Mathes, 30, of Forrest City and Todd W. Conner, 31 of Proctor were arrested and charged with felony count of theft by receiving.

According to arresting officers Conner said Mathes had given him a ride back to the hotel in the Polaris because he ran out of gas.

Mathes told officers that he had the Polaris for about a week and it belonged to his father.

Langston said upon further investigation the owner of the Polaris, who was in St. Louis at the time of the arrest, told police he did not give Mathes permission take the ATV.

While talking to both men outside the hotel room officers noticed in plain view through the open room door several power tools, hand tools and electronics.

Upon receiving permission to search the room officers seized all the tools and electronics under suspicious of them being stolen property.

Both men were taken to the Crittenden County Detention Center.