A
Greenback man arrested in Loudon County last month in a vehicle
theft case was arrested in Maryville on Tuesday and is facing
additional vehicle theft charges in connection to at least two other
stolen vehicles.
Charles Christopher Durance, 18, Kirkland Lane, was
arrested by Maryville officers on charges of theft and unlawful
possession of a firearm. He was jailed on bonds totaling $6,000
pending a 9 a.m. hearing today in Blount County General Sessions
Court.
The Blount County Sheriff’s Office also has charges
pending against Durance in connection with a stolen Jeep Liberty
deputies said they recovered outside a Maryville church.
Deputies said they were called to Dotson Memorial
Baptist Church, 814 Dotson Memorial Road, early Tuesday to a report
of an abandoned Jeep Liberty with the contents scattered about it in
the parking lot.
Deputies contacted the owner, who said she didn’t
even know her vehicle was missing. Around the same time, deputies
received an attempted burglary call from a resident of Panorama
Estates. The resident reported he had video of a man trying to break
into several vehicles in his driveway, deputies said.
As deputies reviewed the footage, a Jeep Wrangler was
seen in the video driving down the street. Later, the Loudon County
Sheriff’s Office reported recovering a Jeep Wrangler stolen from a
victim on Glasgow Street in Maryville that matched the Jeep Wrangler
seen in the video.
Deputies and investigators soon determined they were
looking for a single suspect in the crimes, the BCSO said.
Not long after, Maryville officers received
information that a stolen pickup was parked outside Foothills Mall.
They recovered the truck, a 2004 Chevrolet Colorado, in the parking
lot before apprehending Durance inside the mall.
Officers said Durance had a key to the stolen
pickup in his pocket. A loaded Smith and Wesson .40-caliber
firearm was found sitting on the passenger seat of the stolen
truck, officers said.
Durance matched the description of the suspect
deputies were looking for and was wearing the same clothing as
the male suspect trying to break into vehicles in Panorama
Estates, deputies said.
Durance also was arrested by Blount County
deputies June 1 on an auto burglary charge. He was arrested
several weeks ago by Loudon County deputies after he was found
there with a truck he allegedly stole from Blount County on
April 23.
In that incident, the Lenoir City News-Herald
reported that Durance was found with the stolen truck after it
became stuck in the mud.
Durance later admitted stealing the truck from
Blount County, the News-Herald reported. He also reportedly
admitted to breaking into a vehicle and stealing cash and a
.38-caliber pistol.