According to reports, officers from the Covington Police Department were called to a location on Washington Street in reference to a stolen automobile. When they arrived, they spoke to the victim who reportedly said he had purchased a 1994 Saturn station wagon from a man named "Ray" at a gas station on Washington Street and Flat Shoals Road. According to reports, the man told officers he paid "Ray" $700 for the vehicle.
However, when the man attempted to register his newly purchased vehicle, he was unable to do so because the title had not been signed over by the original owner.
When the man saw "Ray" walking down Washington Street on Jan. 23, he stopped and allegedly told "Ray" to get in the car and show him where the owner of the vehicle was so that he could get the title. The two went to a home in Conyers, got the title and returned to Covington. The victim reportedly left his contact information at the address.
The next day a woman called him, and after the two spoke, they figured out that "Ray" had deceived both of them and that the vehicle in question still belonged to the original owner who thought she had donated the car to Cars for Christ. The two victims met the actual owner at Cars for Christ and turned the vehicle over to her.
Stealing smokes
A Covington man was arrested for shoplifting after reportedly attempting to smuggle a cardboard box of cigarettes out of QuikTrip by hiding them under his coat.
According to reports, 41-year-old Maurice Stacy Hill came into the gas station at roughly 1:15 a.m. with a friend and the two went to the ATM machine and appeared to be using it. The cashier on duty at the time allegedly told officers from the CPD that he watched Hill and his friend walk out of the store and get into a dark-colored SUV carrying a box with a coat over it.
The cashier told officers that he followed the duo out and asked them what they took from the store to which they replied "nothing," according to reports. They then got into the vehicle and left. They were stopped shortly afterward at Emory Street and Old Atlanta Highway.
When the officers arrived, they found a brown hooded coat lying on the ground, and when they picked it up, there was reportedly a box containing different cartons of cigarettes. Hill was identified by the cashier as the man who carried the box out of the store.
According to reports, the box contained 12 cartons of Newport cigarettes at $27.99 each, six cartons of Winston cigarettes at $18.99 each, 10 cartons of Marlboro cigarettes at $26.99 each and one carton of Camel's at $28. The total amount of the stolen cigarettes was $750.
Hill was arrested and transported to the Newton County Detention Center and charged with theft by shoplifting.
