CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – An off-duty sheriff’s deputy and multiple police officers worked together to catch two burglary suspects over the weekend.
According to a news release, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy Kelly Potter was off-duty and taking a friend to work Sunday around 5:45 a.m. when he saw a silver car pulled over on the side of Highway 12 that appeared suspicious.
Deputy Potter said he saw a young white male run from the Glenstone Springs neighborhood and across a field carrying a large black box. He ran to the car, threw the item inside, and the car left the scene.
Potter was able to get the license plate number and call 911 while following the car, which was occupied by two white males. He abandoned the pursuit after the car began to speed.
Clarksville police officers determined the vehicle belonged to 18-year-old Michael Sprague. Officers also learned that a vehicle in the Glenstone Springs neighborhood had been burglarized.
Officers made contact with Sprague, who told them he had been called by a juvenile who needed help on Highway 12. When he picked up the juvenile, he had a lot of property with him, and Sprague said he “did not want to be a part of it.”
Sprague told officers he told the juvenile to get out of his car and dropped him off near Circle Dr.
Police were able to locate the juvenile and stolen property, as well as property from three other vehicle burglaries they had not been aware of previously. The juvenile confessed to the crimes.
Sprague was charged with vehicle burglary and booked into the Montgomery County Jail. His bond was set at $20,000.
“I would like to say that the initial observation of this suspicious activity by MCSO Deputy Potter and the coordination with the CPD was picture perfect,” said Officer Coz Minetos. “The great teamwork between the two agencies resulted in the apprehension of two suspects (Sprague and the juvenile), the discovery of four vehicle burglaries that occurred overnight, and the recovery of all the stolen property.”