Car theft investigation results in felony arrest

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Police say a Beech Grove man gave them a false identity when they were investigating a stolen vehicle at a house on Hoover Road last December, then admitted to stealing the truck in a Facebook post six months later.

The investigation began Dec. 30 when police went to a home in the 5600 block of Hoover Road for a report of a suspicious truck in the driveway. When Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Stargell ran the license plate, it showed it had been stolen out of Johnson County.

Police spoke with the homeowner and two other men there. The homeowner told police she did not who the truck belonged to, the probable-cause affidavit states.

One of the men told police his name was John Howe, but it was later discovered that his name was Jeffrey Norris. Norris, 35, denied knowing anything about the vehicle and agreed to have a DNA swab to see if anything in the truck had his DNA on it.

Norris told police he had been staying at the house with two other people for a couple of days. The homeowner denied that he was there that day, but Norris told police he was sleeping in a bedroom, according to the affidavit.

A wrecker took the vehicle.

After police searched the name and birthdate that Norris first gave them, it showed that that person had a warrant for battery with bodily injury. By that time, Norris had run out the back door, the homeowner told police.

K9 officer Zoey attempted to locate him, but lost his scent at a nearby sawmill.

On Jan. 2, Moore made contact with the owner of the stolen truck who said it had been stolen out of a car lot in Greenwood after it closed on Dec. 23, along with other vehicles. The owner said Norris had been fired from working the car lot.

On Jan. 9, another stolen vehicle was recovered in Columbus and Norris was with it, police said. After they questioned Norris at the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, he admitted to giving a fake name because he didn’t want to go to jail.

On June 30, Nashville Assistant Chief Tim True was contacted by the owner of the stolen truck who said that Norris had been posting on Facebook about feeling remorse for his life. In the post, Norris stated he had stolen cars from the car lot, police said.

He was charged July 11 with receiving stolen auto parts, a Level 6 felony, and false informing, a Class B misdemeanor.

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