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Hummer discovered stolen when driver applies for welfare in Lee County

Published February 11th, 2008 | 3 Comments

Lee County Sheriff Gary Parsons shows a stolen Hummer located Friday in Lee County after the driver attempted to obtain welfare benefits. Photo by Walter Littrell.

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JONESVILLE — “It doesn’t pay to apply for welfare while driving a Hummer,” declared Lee County Sheriff Gary Parsons after his officers charged a Tennessee man with possession of stolen property after he drove the expensive vehicle to the local department of social services.

Parsons said William K. Anderson, 51, 501 Forrestal Drive, Knoxville, is being held without bond at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail and may be charged with other crimes in another jurisdiction in relation to the stolen vehicle.

According to the sheriff, an observant person noticed the man arrive at the Lee County Department of Social Services on Friday in the 2004 H2 Hummer, bearing Michigan license plates, and attempt to obtain welfare benefits. Thinking something just wasn’t quite right, the person took down the license number of the vehicle and reported the information to the sheriff’s office.

“We thought it was unusual that a high-dollar vehicle with out-of-state tags would be at the department of social services too, so we ran the tag and found out that it was stolen,” said Parsons.

The sheriff said his officers were notified to be on the lookout for the vehicle, and it was soon located in the parking lot of Wal-Mart in Ben Hur. Officers set up a surveillance on the vehicle and waited until someone came out of the store, entered the vehicle and drove away. Officers then initiated a stop and charged the driver, Anderson, with possession of stolen property.

Parsons said the owners had recently moved to the Nashville area and had taken a trip to Knoxville for a Hannah Montana concert. While in Knoxville, the owners were visiting friends when the Hummer was stolen on Feb. 2 from the driveway of the friends’ home.

Anderson was arraigned Monday in Lee County General District Court, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 27 at 10:30 a.m.

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LOL, pathetic. Hopefully he will get out of Jail in time to vote for Obama. Or wait, has the Democrit party started pushing for voting booths in prisons yet? Or perhaps they could use the absentee voting system. Just say NO to "smokes fo'votes"

Blake Hall | 2/13/2008 - 11:15 AM - ( Comment

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I realize there are those far less fortunate who deserve the help of welfare benefits to get through rough times or make up the difference of a meager source of income. But nowadays, it's just seems par for the course to see the mentality regarding jumping on the government bandwagon to get them to pay for *something* whether it be food, housing, clothing or healthcare. With that kind of perspective having crept in and taken over the basic ideals of many out there and destroying any sense of decency and self respect, it's easy to see why some folks might believe it's perfectly "normal" to drive an expensive (albeit stolen) vehicle on their way to sign up for welfare. And they'll keep taking it as long as the government is offering it. There's not even fingers to plug all the holes in the system to stop this kind of fraud. -Billie Dale, Kingsport, Tn.

rodefer moss | 2/12/2008 - 9:48 AM - ( Comment

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what was he thinking..lol....needed
something that big to haul his benefits!!just goes to show criminals do
some of the dummest things.

Trina Lambert | 2/12/2008 - 1:26 AM - ( Comment

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