Detectives recover stolen equipment south of Lynnville; 1 arrested

GRAVES COUNTY, Ky. (KFVS) - A man was arrested after detectives recently recovered stolen pieces of equipment from a wooded area south of Lynnville.

Christopher E. Wallace, 50, was arrested and taken to an out-of-county jail.

He was charged by Mayfield police with knowingly receiving stolen property of the value exceeding $10,000 for a stolen tractor.

Wallace was charged by the Graves County Sheriff’s Office with obscuring the identity of a machine valued at over $10,000.

According to the sheriff’s office, a search warrant was executed at a home and shop in the 200 block of Seay Graveyard Road around 5 p.m. on Monday, April 25.

Deputies say they were working a joint investigation into stolen property with the Mayfield Police Department.

The sheriff’s office’s case involved a suspected stolen semi hopper trailer and the police department’s investigation involved the theft of a new 2021 John Deere 3025E tractor. They said the tractor had been reported stolen recently by Hutson Ag on Fulton Road in Mayfield.

While searching the property, located about 3 miles north of the Kentucky and Tennessee state line, detectives found the stolen John Deere tractor hidden in a wooded area a few yards behind a shop belonging to Wallace.

According to deputies, the tractor had some tornado damage because it was originally at the John Deere dealership in Mayfield on December 10, 2021, parked on the lot and for sale.

They said it was stolen some time after the tornado and was reported stolen to the police department.

Detectives say a Timpte brand, 60-foot aluminum semi hopper-style trailer used to haul grain was also recovered from where it was parked near the shop.

They said the trailer’s serial number had been obscured and replaced with a false serial number using stamping tools found in Wallace’s possession inside his shop.

According to the sheriff’s office, the trailer is valued at about $50,000.

They said they are working with the Timpte company officials to determine the trailer’s true serial number.

If the trailer is determined to be stolen, they say additional charges will be filed against Wallace.

In March, the sheriff’s office said a $100,000 stolen skid steer was recovered near the same location. According to detectives, it belonged to the Kentucky State Highway Department; and was stolen from an area near Hutson Ag where it was being used to clean up tornado debris.

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