Colt Phillips

Name:
Phillips, Colt Royal

Date of Booking:
11/6/2021

Reason(s) For Booking:
Criminal Attempt to Commit a Felony

Loitering and Prowling

Possession of Tools for the Commision of a Crime

Criminal Attempt to Commit a Felony

Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the officer’s narrative report. We do not fix any spelling or grammatical errors. Any changes made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist.]

On November 6, 2021 at about 0203 hours dispatch advised they had a [VICTIM #1] on the phone. Cental Dispatch explained he was following a vehicle that was possibly involved in recent burglaries. [VICTIM #1] explained to Dispatch the burglaries had occurred at his business located at 419 Grayson Drive. Dispatch advised they were passing Popeye’s on East May Street traveling west bound.

I responded to the area as dispatch continued to advise updated locations. The vehicle was a red in color Ford Ranger and [VICTIM #1] was driving a burgundy Dodge Ram. I was able to catch up to the vehicles and saw them turn into Circle K on West May Street. The vehicles pulled through the parking lot and then onto North Beulah Street traveling back towards West May Street.

I activated my emergency equipment on my marked patrol vehicle and pulled in front of the vehicle and conducted an investigative stop on the truck. I approached the drivers side of the truck and asked the driver for his drivers license. The driver presented me with his license and I identified him as Mr. Colt Phillips. I asked the passenger for his identification and he stated he did not have one. I asked for his name and date of birth and he stated he was Blake Stovall and his date of birth was [REDACTED]. Mr. Phillips told me the truck was following them. I explained to them the man in the truck that was following them had been on the phone with the 911 center. I told them to give me a minute and let me talk to him and I would be right back with them to explain what was going on. By this time Cpl. Evans and Officer Perrin arrived on scene.

I asked Officer Perrin to go over and talk to the complainant to find out what was going on. I ran both Mr. Phillips and Mr. Stovall through GCIC/NCIC. I walked over to talk to [VICTIM #1]. I asked [VICTIM #1] what was going on with the truck. [VICTIM #1] told me he went to his business at about 0100 hours to check on it and he saw this truck ride by his business real slow, and when the occupants of the truck saw him they “took off like a rocket”.

NOTE: 419 Grayson Drive (Revor Engineering) is a business owned by [VICTIM #1]. Grayson Drive is a short street with four businesses located on it and dead ends into a cul-de-sac at the end. The new Barrow County D.F.A.C.S. building’s parking lot backs up to Grayson Drive. This street is next to impossible to be used as a “cut through” street. Over the last couple of months [VICTIM #1] has reported 16 catalytic converters stolen off cars at his business with the most recent report being recorded on November 5, 2021. Shoe prints and white used saw-zall blades were located at the scene after the past thefts.

I walked back up to the truck and asked Mr. Phillips out. Mr. Phillips leaned over in the truck and appeared to be digging around before he stepped out of the truck. While standing beside the truck I saw he had numerous items on the back. One thing I noticed was what appeared to be a used exhaust flange. The flange was metal and had black carbon built up on the inside of it.

Once out of the truck I asked Mr. Phillips what they were out doing. Mr. Phillips told me they were on the way to Athens Regional Hospital to see his brother that he had been real sick. I asked Mr. Phillips how long his brother had been in the hospital and he told me they just put him in the hospital. I asked Mr. Phillips if he was going to the hospital at 02:00 in the morning and he said they were.

Mr. Phillips said he turned around on “Lays Road” and pulled out onto Hwy 82 and he saw a truck behind him. Mr. Phillips said every turn he made he saw the truck was following him. Mr. Phillips stated he was going to go down Dunahoo Road to “29” to go to Athens. NOTE: This made no sense to me as he turned off of Hwy 82 onto Lays Drive and then onto Grayson Drive where they turned around in the cul-de-sac and then back onto Lays Drive to Hwy 82 where they made a right turn traveling the way they were originally going.

I asked Mr. Phillips who his passenger was and he said it was his buddy Blake Stovall. Mr. Phillips stated he picked him up on Creek Wood near Johns Mansville.

I explained to Mr. Phillips the road they went down with a cul-de-sac had alot of thefts recently. I explained to Mr. Phillips people are watching that area like a hawk and if a vehicle goes down in there we are going to stop them and check them out. I asked Mr. Phillips if he was involved with any of thefts and he told me he does not do that stuff. I asked Mr. Phillips if he had any stolen equipment or anything like that in his truck and he said he did not. I asked Mr. Phillips for consent to search the truck and he denied consent. I explained to Mr. Phillips that we had video of the suspects of the thefts. I explained I was going to take a few pictures of them and the truck and he nodded his head up and down in the universal “yes” motion consenting to this when asked. I took pictures of Mr. Phillips and the bottom of his boots.

Mr. Stovall was asked from the truck and kept separate from Mr. Phillips. I asked Mr. Stovall what they were out doing and he said they were going to his buddy’s house in Athens to hang out. Mr. Stovall said that Mr. Phillips was wanting to go back to his house before they went to Athens. I asked Mr. Stovall what time Mr. Phillips picked him up and he asked me what time it was now and I told him it was 0220. Mr. Stovall told me Mr. Phillips picked him up at about 0230. I told Mr. Stovall it wasn’t 0230 yet and he said about 0130. I asked Mr. Stovall what they were doing back in the country and he said he guessed Mr. Phillips wanted to ride around. I asked Mr. Stovall if they turned around in a cul-de-sac and he said they went down into a cul-de-sac to turn around on Lays Street in that industrial park. Mr. Stovall told me that Mr. Phillips lived on Jackson Trail.

I asked Mr. Stovall if the bicycle on the back of the truck was his and he said it was. I asked Mr. Stovall why he brought a bicycle with him and he said he was going to fix the tire on it. I asked Mr. Stovall if the bags on the back of the truck were his and he said they were. I explained to Mr. Stovall about the thefts in the area where they turned around and asked him if he had anything illegal in his bags. Mr. Stovall said he did not. When asked Mr. Stovall gave consent for me to look in the bags. I had Mr. Stovall stand there with me while I looked through his bags. In one of Mr. Stovall’s bags there was a battery charger for Makita power tools. I asked Mr. Stovall about the charger and he told me he had a Makita air compressor and a saw- zall. I asked Mr. Stovall where the saw-zall was and he told me in the floorboard of the truck where he was sitting. I took pictures of Mr. Stovall and the bottom of his shoes. I took pictures of the truck as well.

Based on the conflicting stories I was getting and as well as the items in the vehicle I contacted on-call CID and explained to them what I had. Detective Corradi contacted Detective Still whom was the case detective for the thefts. After speaking with them they advised they were responding to the scene. Per their request they wanted me to ask Mr. Stovall if he would be willing to wait for them to get there and if he would talk to them. Mr. Stovall said he would.

Mr. Stovall stated numerous times that he was cold. I told him if he wanted he could sit in the back of my patrol car where it was warm. Mr. Stovall said yeah that he was freezing. I told Mr. Stovall if he wanted out of the car to knock on the window. I checked on Mr. Stovall numerous times and three times he got out and smoked a cigarette and then requested to get back in my car where it was warm.

I asked Mr. Phillips what his brother’s name was and he told me his name was [REDACTED]. I asked Cpl. Evans to call Athens Regional and see if they had anybody there by that name. Cpl. Evans advised a few minutes later the hospital advised they had nobody by that name was there. While smoking with Mr. Stovall I asked him how well he knew Mr. Phillips and he stated he knew him well. I asked Mr. Stovall if Mr. Phillips had any brothers and he stated he only has a sister.

Detective Stiill and Detective Corradi arrived on scene and began talking with Mr. Phillips and Mr. Stovall. Mr. Stovall later admitted to Detective Corradi that they were on Grayson Drive to steal catalytic converters. Mr. Stovall told Detective Corradi that he has done this in the past and he usually gets two to three hundred dollars for them.

Mr. Stovall was placed under arrest and transported to the Barrow County Jail. Mr. Phillips was placed under arrest and transported to the Winder Police Department to be interviewed by Detectives Corradi and Still. Mr. Phillips was ultimately transported to the jail as well.

Mr. Phillips truck was towed by next list wrecker service after Detective Still removed evidence from it.

NOTE; The pictures taken will be attached to this report. This incident was recorded by my onboard dash camera Vehicle# 441 as well as my departmental issued body camera # W126.