Got gas? That’s the question would-be truck thief Harley Hughes should have asked before allegedly speeding up the highway in a 1993 Chevrolet pickup he found parked on Highland Avenue in Pound.
Instead, Hughes stopped by a house on Bold Camp to bum some gas when the fuel gauge dipped near empty.
He could not have picked a worse place to stop, police say. The result is a case that has brought chuckles and smiles from deputies, lawyers and even some judges.
Hughes, 26, was arrested for grand larceny May 29. According to sheriff’s Lt. Ronnie Large, the story goes as follows:
Preston Lane and his wife Veronica live on Robinson Hill Road, just off Highland Avenue. On May 29, Mrs. Lane dropped her husband off at his mother Nita Lane’s house on Bold Camp Road and drove the truck to her parents’ house on Highland Avenue. She parked the truck and left with her mother to visit her brother on Birchfield Road.
In the meantime, Hughes was walking from his home on Poplar Street just off Route 83 when he allegedly came up Highland Avenue and noticed the truck sitting there with the keys inside.
Hughes allegedly took the truck, but noticed it was running low on fuel about five miles up Bold Camp. He pulled into the nearby driveway at 9622 Bold Camp Road.
Hughes saw a man in the yard. He yelled to the stranger, “My truck’s almost out of gas. Can I borrow some?”
One thought was running through the mind of the man in the yard: “Hey! That’s my truck!”
Hughes had stopped at Nita Lane’s house and started talking to none other than Preston Lane. At this point, Large said, Lane’s wife had not yet returned and noticed the truck was missing.
Lane remained calm as he thought of ways to stall the man while he notified police, but he hurried his children into the house for fear they would say something and give it away.
Lane discretely told his mother to call her neighbor, sheriff’s department Major Gene Vanover, and get him over there. In the meantime, Lane chatted with Hughes while pretending he was trying find some gas.
Lane’s mother called Vanover’s house, but he wasn’t home, so she called Lane’s wife. Mrs. Lane then contacted Large, who lived down the road and was off duty that night. He in turn contacted central dispatch in Wise, but the dispatcher notified him that the closest deputy was in Coeburn.
Large called Mrs. Lane back and passed along the information, but she advised him the man was about to leave. Large put on his uniform and went to the house to detain the alleged truck thief until deputies could arrive.
When he arrived around 8:30 p.m., Large said, Lane’s mother met him out front and pointed to the back yard. About that time, he said, Hughes was coming around the house.
At first, Large didn’t recognize Hughes, who is no stranger to local police and who was on probation for other crimes.
He asked the surprised Hughes his name as he was handcuffing him, and Hughes told him his name was Harley Rose. But Large quickly recognized the man. “I said, ‘You’re not Harley Rose, you’re Harley Hughes.’”
Large asked Hughes if the truck belonged to him, and Hughes admitted it didn’t. He then asked Hughes if he knew whose vehicle it was, and Hughes again admitted he didn’t.
The officer told Hughes the vehicle belonged to the man from whom he had just tried to borrow gas. Hughes insisted it couldn’t. He had just taken the truck from the home of Jerry Mullins on Highland Avenue, Hughes said as he pointed to Mullins, who had just pulled into the driveway behind them. It couldn’t possibly belong to Lane.
Large told Hughes, “That’s his father-in-law.”
Hughes’ response: “You’re (kidding) me!”
Hughes was arraigned on the charge May 31 in general district court. Judge Suzanne Fulton certified the charge to a grand jury on June 12.