A woman was nabbed with multiple catalytic converters concealed under a tarp in the bed of a stolen pickup.
Cheyanne Lee Williamson, 29, of Eustis, was driving the stolen silver 2005 Chevrolet pickup Saturday morning on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 at Eagles Nest Road, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department.
During a traffic stop, Williamson claimed she had no idea the pickup was stolen and said she believed it belonged to a “friend of a friend,” the report said. However, she admitted she and her boyfriend had stolen the catalytic converters in Leesburg, Fruitland Park, and Lady Lake as well as locations in Lake and Marion counties.
Williamson was arrested on a charge of grand theft of an automobile. The pickup was towed from the scene.
Williamson, who is already on probation, was booked without bond at the Lake County Jail.
A man traveling in the pickup with Williamson, 38-year-old Christopher Lynn Sanders of Eustis, was found to be in possession of methamphetamine and marijuana. He was arrested on drug possession charges and booked at the Lake County Jail on $3,000 bond.
Local law enforcement officials have been warning for months about thieves’ rising appetites for the precious metals contained in catalytic converters. A man living near the Village of Fenney was arrested in connection with the sale of stolen catalytic converters. A suspected catalytic converter thief was tasered in Lady Lake after a chase.
