From Trussville Tribune staff reports
Three men have been charged with stealing two trucks from a Birmingham business.
Just before 7 p.m. on Sunday, deputies were alerted to a vehicle theft in progress. It was reported a GPS tracker had been activated on a company truck. The truck had been parked at a business in the 100 block of Republic Street and no one had permission to operate it after the business had closed.
The caller advised deputies that the GPS indicated that the truck was on a dirt road in a wooded area near Coalburg Road and I-22. Deputies responded to the area and entered the woods on foot. After walking about a mile deputies discovered the truck near a pond on the dirt road. A white male was sitting in driver’s seat and a second white male attempted to hide in some bushes as deputies approached. Yet a third white male fled the scene on foot. A description was broadcast to deputies in the area as well as the Birmingham Police Department. He was located and taken into custody by Birmingham Police a short distance away. Deputies also discovered a second truck that had been stolen from the business at the same location.
All three suspects were questioned by detectives and admitted to stealing the vehicles. They said they had taken the trucks because their vehicle had become stuck in the mud on the dirt road. The men said that it had been their intention to return the trucks to the business once they were done using them.
Ronnie Dale Pruitt, 55, of Birmingham, 55, Michael Lewis, 28, of Jasper, and Roy Pollock, 39, of Birmingham were all taken into custody. Today detectives obtained arrest warrants formally charging each of them with two counts of 1st degree theft of property. All three remain in the Jefferson County Jail with bond set at $10,000 each.
