Dalton men arrested after stealing van from gas station in Whitfield County

According to a Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office incident report, On Thursday, March 16th, 2023, at approximately 7:07 PM, Deputy Collins was dispatched to 2230 Abutment Road (Victory Fuel) in reference to a stolen vehicle. Deputy Collins spoke with the victim, who stated his 1997 Ford Econoline, which he had left running, was stolen while he was inside the gas station. He was able to provide a photo of his van and the tag number FAA513. According to the report, “Deputy Collins watched surveillance footage where he witnessed three unknown males and one unknown female arrives at the gas station in a red convertible Toyota Solara. The group begins to do maintenance on an unoccupied white Ford Expedition parked next to them. The group continues to work on the vehicle when the victim pulls up next to them and goes into the store. At 7:05 PM, one of the unknown males wearing dark grey sweatpants and a light grey jacket gets into the van and drives away. The remaining three individuals continued to stay in the parking lot until the victim came outside and realized his van was gone. The group gets into the Solara and quickly leaves. The cashier advised the Ford Expedition was hers and that the guy working on the vehicle was Dustin Willingham. Deputies were then able to locate the Toyota Solara at 2167 Lawson Drive. Deputies made contact with Daniel Brock and identified him as one of the males in the Solara. While speaking with Daniel, deputies located the stolen van parked behind the residence. Daniel gave deputies consent to come into his residence to attempt to locate the male who stole the van, but the search was unsuccessful. Daniel was reluctant to assist deputies with identifying the male and would only say his name was Richard. Daniel was taken into custody for felony theft by receiving stolen property. Daniel was transported to the Whitfield County Jail and booked. Sergeant Southern made contact with Dustin, who stated the male who stole the van was his friend Ricky Hill. An RMS and Facebook photo confirmed the male in the van was Ricky. Sergeant Southern had previous interactions with Ricky at an abandoned trailer located at 2623 Roberts Circle and knowledge that Ricky rides around on a bicycle. Deputies arrived and made contact with Brittany Ingle, identified as the female in the Solara. Brittany stated she was not involved and did not know Ricky was planning on stealing the vehicle. While deputies were speaking with Brittany, a male matching Ricky’s description was spotted on a bicycle. The male was wearing the same outfit from the video surveillance, and when he noticed deputies, he went in the opposite direction. Deputies gave multiple verbal commands for him to stop, to which he did not comply. Warrants were obtained for Richard James Hill, 34, of Dalton, and he was arrested on March 18th and charged with felony entering auto, felony theft by taking vehicle x2, and felony obstruction.

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