Dalton man arrested after truck stolen from Chattanooga located in Whitfield County

According to a Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office incident report, On April 6, 2023, at 9:32 PM, Deputy McClure, Deputy Thompson, and Sgt Buchanan were dispatched to 127 W Talon Way in search of a stolen vehicle. Dispatch advised Deputies that the vehicle was a 2023 red Toyota Tacoma stolen out of Chattanooga, TN. Deputies arrived at the location and located the stolen Toyota Tacoma parked at 128 W Talon Way. Deputy McClure drew his County-issued Glock 17 and commanded the man in the driver seat to show his hand. Deputies ordered the man, later identified as Robbi Hamilton Peterson, 53, of Dalton, out of the vehicle. While Deputy McClure was detaining Peterson, another male, Hershel Wayne Couch, 59, of Dalton, came from behind the truck. Peterson stated the truck belonged to Mark Edward Thomason, 35, of Dalton. Inside the residence, there were three females, Lisa Norquest, Sandra Babcock, and Chrissy Mcbryear. Deputy Thompson ran the females through dispatch while Deputy McClure spoke with Couch. According to the report, “Couch stated that Mark Edwards had been to prison before for stealing cars and wondered if the truck was actually his or not. Couch said that about 5 minutes before the deputies arrived, Mark said he had to go to the restroom and never came back.” Deputy McClure spoke with Chattanooga PD and advised them they had located the stolen vehicle. On April 7, 2023, at approximately 4:53, Deputy Long was dispatched to an address on Van Buren Drive for a male sleeping on the caller’s porch. Deputy McClure arrived at the scene to assist Deputy Long and identified the male as Mark Thomason. While transporting Thomason to the Whitfield County Jail, Thomason suddenly started saying that he was having trouble breathing. Deputy McClure transported Thomason to Hamilton Medical, where he was placed in the care of medical staff. Thomason was transported to the Whitfield County Jail, charged with felony theft by bringing stolen property into the state, and felony theft by receiving stolen property.