Teen Steals Car, Owner Arrested For Meth And Identity Theft

MANCHESTER, TN -- A pursuit of a stolen car ended with the arrest of not only the alleged teenaged thief, but also the car's owner.

Joseph Brummett, 29, reported to police in Manchester that a teenager had stolen his Mercedes at gunpoint in the 900 block of Interstate Drive. A Tennessee Highway Patrolman saw the car shortly thereafter and began a pursuit that soon went into Rutherford County, where it was stopped with spike strips deployed by sheriff's deputies.

Police found the pistol Brummett had described in the Mercedes' floor board and charged the 15-year-old driver with aggravated robbery, robbery, unlawful possession of a weapon, vandalism and evading arrest and booked him into the Rutherford County Juvenile Detention Center.

During the search of the car, deputies said they found a number of credit cards, all with different names, along with a credit card scanner and in a backpack hidden in the trunk, a notebook with the "personal information" of several people. Investigators said Brummett initially told them a friend had given him the credit cards and then he denied knowing anything about them.

Officers also found meth, three needles and a glass pipe, they said.

Brummett is charged with eight counts of identity theft and meth possession.

Photo via Coffee County Sheriff's Department