Local & State Headlines

Dozens of stolen starters recovered

• A person of interest is being sought after 75 to 100 automotive starters were found Friday in the back of a pickup truck.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — Police officials say they need the public’s help to identify more than 75 stolen vehicle starters recovered when a pickup truck driver fled from police early Friday.

Albany police identified Keon Rivers, 19, a person they’re seeking for questioning after officers responded to a burglary call in the 200 block of Collins Street around 2:30 a.m. Friday.

Rivers has not been declared a suspect in the case, merely a person police wish to speak with, Banks said.

After spotting a suspicious person in the Collins Street area, police gave chase, but lost him, Albany Police Department spokesperson Phyllis Banks said.

After the chase, officers found a golden colored older model Dodge Ram pickup loaded with 75-100 automotive starters, as well as other scrap metal and wiring. The truck, which had a Lee County license plate, was impounded by police.

“We are asking for the public’s help to both locate Keon Rivers and identify the property that we believe has been stolen,” Banks said.

A possible tip of the origin of the car parts came from staff at Quality Wrecker Service, who towed the truck back to their location on North Monroe Street.

A worker there told police that the starters looked like they may have been taken from military-style Humvees and that there had been a recent rash of thefts at W.W. Williams — a repairer of diesel engines and auto parts — in Albany and Lee County.

Staff at W.W. Williams’ Clarke Avenue location said on the phone Friday that they would examine the recovered parts to see if they may belong to them, and noted that the company has had “some incidents” recently at its Hugh Road complex in Lee County.

According to incident reports filed with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, W.W. Williams has been plagued with metal thefts. Earlier this month the company officials managed to lure a person who they believed to be stealing transmission cases with a specially-marked case that they were eventually able to track down to an Albany metal recycling facility.

That facility turned over surveillance video of the suspect bringing the case to the business, where he sold it. The video was turned over to investigators, who are still working the case.

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