Two teenagers, a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old girl, were arrested Friday after what authorities describe as a multi-county crime spree across Tennessee and into Arkansas that ended with roughly a dozen stolen firearms recovered. The Stewart County Sheriff’s Office says the pair allegedly stole a pickup in Dover, burglarized a business in Henry County and broke into a Benton County home where the guns were taken. A license-plate camera in West Memphis flagged the truck, and officers who moved in on the vehicle say they recovered all of the weapons along with other stolen property.
According to WSMV, the Stewart County Sheriff’s Office said a Flock camera captured the stolen truck in West Memphis on May 20, and officers were able to stop the pickup and apprehend the teens a short time later. Investigators told the station they linked the pair to thefts in Stewart, Henry, and Benton counties, including a break-in where roughly a dozen guns were taken. Authorities said the recovered property included the firearms and additional stolen items.
The sheriff’s office said in a statement that “all weapons were recovered along with other property that was stolen,” and WSMV reports the 17-year-old was wearing one of the stolen handguns on his belt when he was taken into custody. The station notes that both teens now face charges in Arkansas and in multiple Tennessee counties, although investigators have not publicly released the full list of counts or said where each charge will be filed. Deputies say the case shows coordinated work between agencies across county and state lines.
How police say they tracked the suspects
Law enforcement credited a neighborhood license-plate reader, part of the Flock camera network used by many towns and homeowners’ associations, with zeroing in on the stolen pickup and tightening the search window. Flock Safety materials say the systems capture plate images and searchable vehicle “fingerprints” that investigators can filter by time, color, and tag information to move cases along more quickly. Local agencies have increasingly leaned on those cameras to follow stolen vehicles across jurisdictions and generate timely leads…