A Carter County man and woman face theft charges after police say they found the pair in possession of a stolen vehicle.
Officers of the Elizabethton Police Department arrested Tiffany Brooke Grindstaff, 23, 110 A Hobart Hyder Drive, Elizabethton, and Coby Lee Wilson, 26, 1010 Bluefield Ave., Apt. 4, Elizabethton, on Wednesday afternoon and charged each of them with one count of auto theft and one count of theft of vehicle parts.
According to police reports, EPD Cpl. Doug Combs received information on a possible narcotics transaction taking place in the parking lot of a local restaurant. When Combs arrived on the scene, he conducted a registration check on the suspect vehicle, a 2002 green Ford Explorer, which revealed the license plate displayed on the SUV had been reported stolen.
A short time later, EPD Officer Dustin Johnson arrived on the scene and saw the Explorer. “I then recognized the suspect vehicle as a possible stolen vehicle I had taken a report on one day prior,” Johnson said, adding a check of the vehicle VIN number revealed it had been reported stolen.
According to court documents, an Elizabethton woman had reported her 2002 green Ford Explorer had been stolen from her home between Jan. 14 and Jan. 17. The tag which was displayed on the SUV was reported stolen on Jan. 15 and belonged on a 1997 Ford Explorer.
When Combs arrived on the scene Wednesday afternoon, he said he saw Grindstaff standing beside the driver’s side of the vehicle removing items from the front seat area. Combs said Wilson was with Grindstaff when he arrived.
EPD Detective Joe Harrah was called to the scene to investigate the discovery of the stolen vehicle. Harrah said he spoke with an individual at the restaurant who told the officer when he arrived at the restaurant he saw Grindstaff in the driver’s seat and Wilson in the passenger seat of the SUV.
“After being advised of his rights to counsel, Coby Wilson advised that he was at his mother’s house and Tiffany Grindstaff arrived at his house in the vehicle,” Harrah said. “Coby Wilson gave (me) consent to search his phone and there were photos of the stolen vehicle on Wilson’s phone that were taken in the manner posting for sale.
“Interior and exterior photos were taken and texted to a subject known as ‘Ghost’ in South Carolina,” Harrah added. “After consent to search Tiffany Grindstaff’s phone (I) observed photos of Coby Wilson driving the stolen vehicle.”