Car thief nabbed
BY BRUCE BRANUM
The Greenville Standard
Kentavious Taylor, age 18 of Georgiana, was arrested on Jan. 8 and has been charged with several felony crimes involving two stolen cars from the City of Greenville.
According to a press release by Greenville Police Chief Justin Lovvorn, “Between the dates of Dec. 30, 2024 and Jan. 2, 2025, the Greenville Police Department received reports of two stolen vehicles and four vehicles broken into in two separate areas of Greenville.”
In the report, it was stated all vehicles were left unlocked and the two stolen vehicles had the keys left in the vehicle.
Lovvorn added, the Greenville Police Department’s (GPD) investigation division responded to the scenes and collected several items of evidence which were used to develop a suspect.
Within two days of the first stolen vehicle being reported, an officer on patrol observed the vehicle traveling in the area of Hwy. 31 and Hwy. 10.
The officer attempted to pull the vehicle over and the vehicle attempted to flee from the officer.
After a brief pursuit, the driver turned onto a side street and exited the vehicle. The driver then fled on foot and the officer was unable to apprehend the driver at that time.
From the stolen vehicle, evidence recovered allowed investigators to obtain a warrant for Taylor.
Two days later, a second stolen vehicle was recovered on the south side of town by an officer patrolling the area.
The officer saw a vehicle parked and unoccupied, which fit the description of the stolen vehicle, and ran the registration confirming it was the second stolen car. Investigators then recovered and processed the vehicle
The GPD was able to locate Taylor on Wednesday night, Jan. 8, and investigators then also recovered a stolen handgun he had been in possession of, which was taken from one of the vehicles that had been broken into.
Taylor was arrested and charged with two counts of felony Receiving Stolen Property 1st, one count of felony Receiving Stolen Property 2nd, and Attempted to Elude Law Enforcement.
Additional charges are expected after the results of the forensic analysis of evidence collected from various scenes are completed.
Lovvorn said, “I would like to commend the Investigations division for all their hard work and time they put into this case and the patrol division for being vigilant and locating both stolen vehicles. We will continue to take every effort to prevent future crime and convict those who break the law. We do ask for the public’s help in preventing crimes like this by locking your vehicles and removing items of value from them, especially firearms!”
Taylor was booked into the Butler County Correctional Facility and is now out on a $55,000 bond.
