Chief Deputy David Williams Jr., left, confers with Sheriff Randall Boyce about seized property, including farm panels on a trailer and a hot tub on a truck bed. (T-G Photo by Clint Confehr) [Click to enlarge]

Gasoline was being stolen from storage tanks at service stations and truck stops along Interstate 65 in Marshall and Maury counties, according to information from a Bedford County Sheriff's Department investigation.

"They would drive up to an underground tank and drop a pump in and draw out 100 gallons," Sheriff Randall Boyce said Wednesday evening while discussing developments arising from the department's continuing investigation into cattle rustling.

"They had a submergible pump," Boyce said.

The pump and a 100-gallon tank were confiscated in connection with the arrest of Mark Robert Carter, 29, on Oct. 11 at a Marshall County farm on the west side of I-65 where, according to a detective's report, Carter confessed to stealing cows.

The gasoline thefts were "done mostly at night in Marshall and Maury counties," Boyce said of one of several crimes alleged with Carter's arrest.

Fuel thefts went undetected by a number of the victims because of the size of the tank and, apparently, assumptions made that an accounting error had been made.

"Most places would think they had mis-figured because they'd only take 100 gallons at a time," Boyce said. "The tank [used for the theft] would only hold 100 gallons.

"They would do it at different stations so no one would get alarmed.

"A lot of the places are big along the interstate and access to their storage tanks is off to one side," the sheriff continued.

Apparently, a stolen pickup truck would be parked at night on the side of an access cap to a station's fuel tank, he said. A hose with a diameter of 1.5-2 inches would be used with a pump in the bed of the truck.

"It would not take them long" to withdraw 100 gallons, Boyce said. "We don't know how many times they did it, but they did it a lot.

"We're not sure what they did with the gas," he said. "I personally think they sold it, but to whom, I don't know."

The sheriff stopped short of saying Carter would be charged in connection with the fuel thefts, but he did say, "It is related to Carter."

Carter is being held in the Bedford County Jail in lieu of $86,000 as a result of theft charges filed eight days ago. Sixteen of 27 missing cows were recovered a week ago. Two calves were seized as they were born since the thefts in January and May.

Now, the thefts appear to include much more than livestock as lawmen have recovered some property readily identified as stolen, and seized much more that's suspected as stolen.

Beyond seizures made Monday, more than $20,000 worth of personal property was seized Wednesday by the department as it continues to investigate thefts that appear to have been committed by people accused of cattle rustling.

"I would say $20,000, easy," Chief Deputy David Williams Jr. said as Boyce and other lawmen examined what had been hauled in with the help of a couple of tow truck companies. "That hot tub is worth $7,000."

Thefts from Moore County were apparently cleared with seizures last Thursday and on Monday. Now, the Bedford County Sheriff's Department may help clear thefts in Rutherford and Marshall County.

A seized four-wheeler is believed to have been taken from a Murfreesboro address, officials said. A manure spreader was probably taken at Eagleville.

The hot tub was reportedly taken from a place in Chapel Hill, the Bedford lawmen said.

Boyce said his department is "getting a lot of calls" from people saying they've been theft victims, and they're asking "'Have you got my stuff?'"

Ironically, Boyce is unaware of gasoline theft reports, apparently because the victims were unaware, or assumed there was an accounting error.

The Bedford County sheriff also said the Marshall County Sheriff's Department has been very helpful as it's assisted in the investigation that started with cattle rustling in Bedford County.