Three arrested in Bedford County theft

By Dave Thompson

Published: September 5, 2008

Despite Johnny Cash’s hit song in which the protagonist smuggles an entire car’s worth of parts from a factory “one piece at a time,” car parts aren’t usually stolen for that reason, according to local salvage workers.

They usually steal to scrap the parts for quick cash.

A common target among thieves, because of its value, is the catalytic converter, an item that Dwaine Skinnell said could net a crook $125.

“They take them to the scrap yard, they’re worth a lot of money,” said Skinnell, a mechanic at Bedford Auto Salvage, on Centerville Road, in Bedford.

A recent rash of thefts involving catalytic converters resulted in three arrests, according to a news release from the Bedford County Sheriff’s Department.

On August 29 and 30, deputies arrested three men in connection with the thefts that occurred between August 1 and 9, at Bedford Auto Salvage and at Sadisco of Roanoke, on Quarterwood Road in Montvale.

Bobby E. Taylor, 38, and Gregory D. Brown, 53, both of Roanoke, were arrested shortly after midnight, after trying to steal catalytic converters from Sadisco.

Both were charged with destruction of private property, trespassing and grand larceny in that incident.

According to case information listed on Virginia’s courts Web site, http://courts.state.va.us, Brown was also charged with five counts each of grand larceny, felony destruction of private property and trespassing, all related to incidents at Bedford Auto Salvage.

Darrell Martin, 62, of Moneta, was arrested and is charged with six counts of grand larceny, relating to both Sadisco and Bedford Auto Salvage incidents.

Having only worked at the salvage yard for about a month, Skinnell said he thought the thefts had been happening several months before he arrived.

Brown and Martin are being held in the Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Bedford, Brown on $3,500, Martin without bond.