Covington, Tenn.–Covington Police have been making arrests of people looting in the areas struck by a tornadoes last week. One of the arrests was of a Ripley man looting items from a school that was damaged in the tornadoes.
The arrest was made around 8:20 a.m. Thursday after the Police Department received a citizen tip of a looter near Crestview Elementay School. Officers responded and located a black Ford F250 pulling a 16-foot trailer parked on the roadway.
The driver, later identified as Jerry Prater, 47, of 4848 Conner Whitefield Road in Ripley, was caught in the action of loading his trailer and truck with items from the school that was damaged in the tornadoes.
Prater stated he was unaware it was a restricted zone or that anything was wrong even though the street was marked off with orange cones and fencing around the fallen structures. There was visible damage to several structures near the items.
Prater’s vehicle and trailer were towed. He was arrested, transported to Tipton County Jail and formally charged with Theft of Property, and Looting on the construction site and property. He will appear in Tipton County General Sessions Court later next week.
“The looting activity is sickening after seeing the damage to property that our citizens and business owners have been devastated this week by the tornados. ” said Chief Donna Turner “Officers are going to continue to patrol these areas proactively and there will be zero tolerance. The vehicles these thieves are using will be towed and the thieves will be held without a bond until Judge Peeler can arraign them in Tipton County General Sessions Court. The message is clear: be a part of the solution not the problem!”
If anyone has information of people looting in these areas or have additional information on this incident, please contact the CPD Criminal Investigations Division at 901-475-1261. Tips can be sent through Facebook messenger Covington Police Department or the City of Covington website.
Covington PD photo.