Three charged in 5 months of smash-and-grab thefts

Schuyler man reunited with $10K worth of items

Last week, a Schuyler resident was reunited with his orange and red kayak that had been stolen from his property more than two years ago.

Buck Whitehurst’s Durango Mainstream kayak was recovered, along with more than $10,000 worth of other property by the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office last month after the department executed search warrants at a residence on Hunting Lodge Road in Schuyler.

Three Schuyler residents were arrested in connection with the stolen property, said Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks, ending a string of so-called smash-and-grab thefts that had been plaguing the county for more than five months.

“They didn’t care about the value of the items, just as long as they could take it,” Brooks said. “So after the smash and grabs, we continued to work the investigation and it led us to stolen property at the Hunting Lodge Road residence.”

Joey Napier, also known as “Pee Wee,” of Schuyler, was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a nonviolent felon and receiving or buying stolen goods worth less than $200, records show.

Joey Minter, of Schuyler, was arrested and charged with receiving or buying stolen goods worth less than $200 and receiving or buying stolen goods worth more than $200.

Sigourney Minter, of Schuyler, was also arrested and charged with receiving or buying stolen goods worth less than $200 and receiving or buying stolen goods worth more than $200. 

The stolen property, which consisted of more than 60 items, Nelson County Investigator Rebecca Adcock said, was found in and around the singlewide trailer on the land.

Brooks said those who were arrested did not try to do anything with the stolen goods, but just tried to conceal them.

“It didn’t make any difference, they stole from everybody,” he said. “A lot of the stuff was just left out in the weather.”

Along with almost a dozen lawn statues and ornaments, kayaks were recovered, ladders, a Vespa scooter, a weed cutter, antique plows, car stereos, knives, fishing tackle boxes, fishing reels and rods, a propane tank, gas cans, a nail gun, a mower, a lawn ornament made from a drive shaft of a car and paddles, among other things.

Brooks said they have had no such theft reported since the arrests and that it was significant to stop them.

“It means a lot because I think to be able to return property back to the victim, it’s nice,” Brooks said. “The thing is, you know the culprit behind it. You knew who was doing that. And you know that it’s going to cease for awhile.”

Brooks said more charges are possible.

“I’m sure, without a doubt, there will be more victims,” he said. “With every victim, there will be a charge.”

Stolen grave site statue recovered

More than a year and a half ago, a three-and-a-half-foot-tall statue of the Holy Family was stolen from the grave site of Ronald Popeilarz, a Shipman man whose family had buried him on their property on Brownings Cove Road in Shipman.

Nelson County Deputy Josh Hatter took the stolen property report from the family in July of 2008. Since then, he has had a picture of the statue in the glove compartment of his patrol cruiser.

“I figured I’d give it a little bit extra,” Hatter said.

Last month, Hatter and the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office returned the statue to the family.

“When my mother told me,” said Missy Wade, Popeilarz’s daughter, of Shipman, said. “I got chills just thinking after all this time that it was found.”

The statue, which weighs about 65 pounds, was found along with more than $10,000 of other stolen property less than 10 miles from the Popeilarz grave site at a residence on Hunting Lodge Road in Schuyler.

The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office executed search warrants at the house two weeks ago and Capt. Ron Robertson said he found the statue lying in the woods next to the property.

Hatter matched the statue with the one in the picture that he had in his glove compartment.

“I said ‘That’s it,’” Hatter said.

“It felt really great because a lot of people you can just tell them that we’ll do a report,” he said about returning the statue. “The purpose of doing the reports is that so we have something to reference when something like this comes up.”

Wade said it was “pretty amazing” that Hatter kept a picture of it after all this time.

“We are just so thankful that he did that,” Wade said. “You just can’t understand how someone can steal off of someone’s grave in the first place.”