On Sunday morning, an Alabama state trooper pulled over a Lauderdale County man and his nephew, unaware the truck they were driving and the two all-terrain vehicles they were hauling were all stolen from Athens, an official said.

When Athens Police connected that incident with others that occurred Sunday and Monday, an uncle and his nephew were facing multiple counts of theft in two states and a lot of expensive property had been recovered.

The case began on Saturday night, when Athens Police Officer Chris Mardis happened to check on an unoccupied Pontiac parked in front of Best Way on U.S. 72, said Lt. Floyd Johnson, public information officer for Athens Police. A check of the car in the National Crime Information Center computer system showed the vehicle was a rental car stolen from Omaha, he said.

On Sunday morning, Gregg’s Wrecker Service in Athens reported there was a man inside their lot going through the Pontiac that had been impounded by police the night before, Johnson said. When officers arrived, a man fled in a gold truck, he said.

Sometime later Sunday morning, Trooper Scott Simpson pulled over the driver of a Dodge truck pulling a trailer with two four-wheelers. The truck was later identified as one of two trucks stolen earlier that morning from J&R Truck Sales on U.S. 72. However, the trucks had not yet been reported missing when Simpson stopped the driver of the Dodge.

“That was a very dangerous situation for him,” Johnson said Monday. “It gave me chills when I realized what had happened.”

Sometime after the trooper ticketed the driver of a Dodge truck, someone from J&R Truck Sales called police to report two trucks had been stolen from their lot — a 2002 Chevrolet and a 1998 Dodge Ram. The Ram had been returned to the lot but the Chevrolet was still missing.

“We developed two suspects in the case,” Johnson said. “One of the suspects was identified by the witness at Gregg’s Wrecker Service as the person in the wrecker lot on Saturday. Our dispatchers were able to determine that Trooper Simpson had written the other suspect a traffic ticket on Sunday morning while he was driving a Dodge truck. After talking with Trooper Simpson, we verified the truck was the one stolen from J&R Truck Sales. Trooper Simpson also said the Dodge truck was pulling a trailer and it had two four-wheelers on it. We talked with Champion Powersports and they had two four-wheelers stolen but had not yet reported them stolen.”

On Monday night, Athens Police investigators and Lauderdale County Sheriff’s investigators watched the activities of one of the suspects as he traveled to both Lauderdale to Lawrence counties, Johnson said.

“The surveillance ended with Trooper Jason Hewett stopping the suspects on County Road 414 in Rogersville,” he said.

Arrested were William Henry Mance of Lauderdale County and his nephew, Nycholas Sterling Mance, 19, of 9853 U.S. 72, Rogersville, records show. The 2002 Chevrolet truck and both four-wheelers were recovered, Johnson said.

William remains in the Lauderdale County Jail, where he already had an outstanding bench warrant for his arrest. Athens Police has a hold on him, and he will be transferred to face charges here, including four counts of first-degree theft of property and one count of third-degree burglary, Johnson said. Meanwhile, investigators in Omaha have obtained an arrest warrant for him in connection with the theft of the rental car, and will arrest him once he is released from Alabama.

Nycholas was charged with one count of first-degree theft of property, records show. He was brought to Athens very early Tuesday, booked by Athens Police and transferred to the Limestone County Jail, where he was charged with two additional counts of first-degree theft later Tuesday, Johnson said.