thedailytimes.com : Your 24/7 news source

TELLICO PLAINS — A Tellico Plains man spotted a suspicious vehicle near his property and then followed it to find the man dumping scrap metal on some other property. When he returned to his property he realized the scrap metal was his.

According to the arrest warrant, Kenneth Murphy contacted police, and they went to speak with the owner of the property where the suspect dropped the metal off.

Murphy was able to get a description of the vehicle as well as the tag number.

Monroe County Sergeant John Acuff said he and Murphy went to the location on Towee Falls Road and spoke with the resident, who said he did not know the metal was there.

Murphy and the resident made an agreement to get the metal returned to his Lower Smithfield Road property.

Acuff and Murphy returned to Murphy's property to continue the report, and the resident called and spoke with Acuff, telling him that a man driving a Nissan Pathfinder was loading the metal into an SUV.

License tag checked

Acuff checked the tag number Murphy had given him and it came back to a resident on Mecca Pike.

Acuff said he went to the Mecca Pike address to confront the suspect and found the owner of the vehicle.

The owner explained that her son had used the SUV and he was around the back of the house.

Acuff said he spoke to Luke M. Butler about the situation, and Butler admitted that he took the metal, not knowing it belonged to someone. He said he was trying to make some money.

Acuff said Butler took $1,800 in scrap metal and heavy equipment. Acuff charged Butler with theft over $1,000.