Alleged Car Thief Also A Suspect In Driveway Scams
Long before he allegedly stole more than thirty vehicles and led police from area counties on numerous pursuits before being apprehended early Monday, Joshua Wayne Cooper also allegedly perpetrated driveway work scams in Greene County.
A Keller Road duo told sheriff’s deputies on Thursday that they paid Cooper $900 in August two thousand eight or August two thousand nine to pave their driveway.
Once Cooper had the cash in palm “he did not comeback to do the job,” Deputy Travis Hoxie said in a report.
The homeowners told deputies that Cooper “did give them what looked like official paperwork” for the job, the report said.
The duo eventually contacted Cooper’s family, and his father “did have him come back to Keller Road to pay them $300, but he never paid the rest back to them,” the report said.
Cooper, 26, of Wilson Dale Road, Morristown, also may have been involved in a driveway sealing scam last fall that cost two Swecker Road residents $1,800, according to a sheriff’s department report filed earlier this week.
The neighbors told deputies “that a man using the name Josh Cooper came to their homes (and) quoted prices to the victim for paving their driveways,” a report said.
The suspect drew up contracts and Cooper accepted checks for $1,000 and $800 as down payments for the work, the report said.
He never returned to do the work, the report said.
Cooper was taken into custody early Monday near Dandridge after crashing a pickup truck that was allegedly stolen. Charges pending in Jefferson County alone include numerous counts of auto theft, reckless endangerment, evading arrest, aggravated onslaught, drug possession and driving on a suspended license.
Dan Armstrong, district attorney general of the 3rd Judicial District that includes Greene and Hamblen counties, said today that some charges against Cooper have also been filed by Hamblen County authorities against Cooper.
Those charges include auto-related theft counts and felony evading arrest.
Other charges against Cooper are expected to be filed in Greene, Cocke and Sevier counties.
He remains in Jefferson County Jail after a very first General Sessions Court appearance there on Thursday.
Because Cooper is from Hamblen County and many of the alleged vehicle thefts and other crimes were committed there, Armstrong said his office may take the lead in prosecuting him.
“I will be in discussion with [District Attorney] General [James] Dunn in the 4th District in the days ahead to determine how to proceed,” Armstrong said.
Alleged Car Thief Also A Suspect In Driveway Scams, Local News
Alleged Car Thief Also A Suspect In Driveway Scams
Long before he allegedly stole more than thirty vehicles and led police from area counties on numerous pursuits before being apprehended early Monday, Joshua Wayne Cooper also allegedly perpetrated driveway work scams in Greene County.
A Keller Road duo told sheriff’s deputies on Thursday that they paid Cooper $900 in August two thousand eight or August two thousand nine to pave their driveway.
Once Cooper had the cash in mitt “he did not come back to do the job,” Deputy Travis Hoxie said in a report.
The homeowners told deputies that Cooper “did give them what looked like official paperwork” for the job, the report said.
The duo eventually contacted Cooper’s family, and his father “did have him come back to Keller Road to pay them $300, but he never paid the rest back to them,” the report said.
Cooper, 26, of Wilson Dale Road, Morristown, also may have been involved in a driveway sealing scam last fall that cost two Swecker Road residents $1,800, according to a sheriff’s department report filed earlier this week.
The neighbors told deputies “that a man using the name Josh Cooper came to their homes (and) quoted prices to the victim for paving their driveways,” a report said.
The suspect drew up contracts and Cooper accepted checks for $1,000 and $800 as down payments for the work, the report said.
He never returned to do the work, the report said.
Cooper was taken into custody early Monday near Dandridge after crashing a pickup truck that was allegedly stolen. Charges pending in Jefferson County alone include numerous counts of auto theft, reckless endangerment, evading arrest, aggravated onslaught, drug possession and driving on a suspended license.
Dan Armstrong, district attorney general of the 3rd Judicial District that includes Greene and Hamblen counties, said today that some charges against Cooper have also been filed by Hamblen County authorities against Cooper.
Those charges include auto-related theft counts and felony evading arrest.
Other charges against Cooper are expected to be filed in Greene, Cocke and Sevier counties.
He remains in Jefferson County Jail after a very first General Sessions Court appearance there on Thursday.
Because Cooper is from Hamblen County and many of the alleged vehicle thefts and other crimes were committed there, Armstrong said his office may take the lead in prosecuting him.
“I will be in discussion with [District Attorney] General [James] Dunn in the 4th District in the days ahead to determine how to proceed,” Armstrong said.