Alabama Man Commits Heavy Crime — Could Do Hard Time
An Alabama man was charged with stealing a 70-ton crane after he called a wrecker service asking to have the heavy machinery pulled out of the woods, according to sheriff’s officials.
The owner of the towing service contacted the Chilton County Sheriff’s Department on Monday because he was suspicious when Johnny Mims called him claiming someone had given him the crane and asked him to pull it out of the woods so he could sell it for scrap.
The wrecker service owner later recalled moving the same crane a few years before and contacted its owner, who said he had not given it away, so he contacted the sheriff’s office again with the new information.
Mims attempted to flee from police and drove the rig into a ditch where it became stuck.
The 26-year-old Clanton man was arrested Tuesday on a probation violation and first-degree theft charges
“We have worked a lot of theft cases over the years, but this one definitely takes first place in the heavyweight category,” Sheriff John Shearon’s office said in a statement, thanking the wrecker service.
Call me silly, but I don’t think a crane makes a very good get away vehicle.