Hay Thief (Thieves?) Sought in Sevier County

Submitted by Brian A. on Sat, 2007/12/15 - 12:55am.

Have you seen any stolen hay? If so, law enforcement can use your help:

Detective Jeff Manis has been hot on the trail of hay thieves. He said a break in the case led to Trotter's arrest. "I got a tip from a citizen in Seymour yesterday morning and turned out to be correct."
. . .
More than 30 1,700-pound bales remain missing from the rightful owner, Jack McMahan.

Searching for it isn't an easy task, but Manis says there are ways to find the rest of the bales. "We could take a sample of the hay and the UT [sic] could compare it, tell from same field and same grass."

Sounds like a little CSI action is possible.

It's my understanding that hay prices have been above average due to the drought.



This story is so weird to

This story is so weird to me. My family used to use round hay bales. These are not things you can just pick up and throw in the back of your pickup. They're huge. You need a tractor with a special spike attachment on the bak just to move them from one part of the field to another. To move them long distances you'd need a heavy truck with a trailer or a big flatbed. Also, moving 30 of these suckers would take time. I'd put it at at least two people, and this is an hours-long job. Someone had to see this happening.

Let's be glad the mastermind behind this heist is stopping at hay. If he can move 30 round bales without getting caught, think of what else he could steal!

Crime Solved

The thief was caught and most of the hay recovered. The farmer had stored his hay next to Boyds Creek Hwy and outside the fence field. I assume several people passed by while the crime was in progress, but no one thought it was being stolen.

Years ago some railroad type construction equipment was stolen on Hollywood Drive in Knoxville. The heavy equipment would only operate on rails, therefore at least two 18 wheelers were used along with a crane. Hollywood Drive also had to be closed during the hours it took to load.

I heard they outlawed round

I heard they outlawed round bails of hay because cows couldn't get a square meal

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