Channel 2’s Diana Davis learned how those charged may be connected to thefts of trucks and even bulldozers in as many as 11 Georgia counties.
Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry told Davis that Kirk Devon Bray ran the operation.
He would sell it whole. He would sell it cut up, whatever the market would bear. He had a very lucrative operation said Berry.
Were talking about stolen Bobcat trailers, tractor trailers, heavy equipment. It was a very well-done, well-organized theft of some very high-power heavy equipment, added Berry.
Kori Lanard, a former Atlanta Falcons cheerleader, her sister Lauren Landard and Bray are all charged in what police said was a multicounty, possibly a multistate, stolen car chop shop operation.
Oconee County sheriffs deputies said they caught Bray when they say he crashed a stolen Ford pickup into a car driven by the grandparents of a sheriffs deputy.
Bray was already wanted in another county on charges of stealing a bulldozer and other heavy equipment.
Berry said when they went over the stolen pickup, the pieces started to fall together.
We found some things in the truck that were of interest including cellphones, a firearm that had been stolen out of another county, according to Berry.
Investigators said both Lanard sisters played an active role in the ring.
She was an active participant, helping drive getaway vehicles that were actually chased by law enforcement in Walton County, Berry said of Kori Lanard.
The sheriff said the case goes beyond Oconee County.
At least 11 Georgia counties including Cherokee, Gwinnett and DeKalb have their warrants out for Bray. He remains in the Oconee Jail.
It seems like every rock we turn over, we get new evidence. said Berry There are investigators all over north Georgia that are working this case, he said.
The sheriff said he expects this case to snowball. Hell be having a meeting with the other counties involved in the coming days.
