In Coffee County, cargo trailers are a hot commodity. Sometimes the “hot” can be both figurative and literal. Such is the case with this story.
At the end of January, Douglas police officers arrested Curtis Williams III, 29, of Tifton, after he allegedly stole two cargo trailers on the same night.
On January 29, officers from the Douglas Police Department responded to a business on West Bakery Highway. An incident report states that when they arrived, a 34-year-old female said she had purchased an 8.5×16 2023 Rock Solid Cargo trailer. She said that the trailer was parked in the lot of Stalvey Heating and Cooling where some equipment would be loaded inside.
When the owner went to the business that morning, the trailer was gone. According to the victim, the estimated value of the trailer was $14,495. An employee of the business pulled up video surveillance which showed a gold Tahoe backing up and leaving with the trailer.
After further investigation, officers arrested Williams in connection with the crime, adding another felony charge for the theft of an additional cargo trailer on the same night. A copy of a warrant states that Williams also stole a 2023 Rock Solid Cargo trailer, valued at $14,503, which belonged to Sunbelt Greenhouses. The investigation also revealed that between January 29 and January 30, Williams, a convicted felon, had possession of a .40mm Glock and a Draco assault rifle. The warrant states that Williams was convicted of obtaining a controlled substance by misinterpretation, fraud, forgery, deception, subterfuge, or theft in Ben Hill County, which was adjudicated in 2018. An additional charge on the warrant also accused Williams of knowingly receiving stolen property from another individual last month in the amount of $500.
As a result, Williams was charged with two counts of felony theft by taking, theft by receiving stolen property, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
He has not been granted release from the Coffee County Jail since his arrest but is scheduled for a bond hearing next month.