Two suspects have been arrested for a string of thefts and burglaries.

Dunlap Police received a call Thursday morning about a motorcycle parked in the middle of Valley View Drive. When they responded, witnesses reportedly said they saw a white van driving slowly through the neighborhood. The motorcycle was less than 100 yards from the residence where it belonged.

Late that afternoon, police received a call about the theft of a Cub Cadet push mower from a home on Harmon Drive South. Witnesses described the same suspicious white van.

Officers later spotted the van in a shopping center across from the Dunlap Post Office. Through the vehicle’s windows, they could see it was “loaded down” with items, including clothing and computer equipment. When police officers questioned the occupants the van, they confessed much of the property in the van was stolen.

According to Police Chief Clint Huth, they admitted stealing the lawnmower and had already pawned it.

Officers arrested 19-year-old Francis Joseph Myers of Spencer, and 21-year-old Audra Lacey Cooley of Dunlap – whom Huth said appeared to be “under the influence of some sort of substance” when she was questioned.

The pair admitted attempting to steal the motorcycle and breaking into a home in Cartwright. They also pawned a television reportedly stolen during a burglary.

Detective John Harvey said the Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the burglary in Cartwright and a theft of wheels and tires from a yard on Press Pickett Road that is believed to have been part of the same crime spree.

Dunlap Police impounded the van – which Huth said had been borrowed – along with all the items in it, pending identification of the owners.

Myers and Cooley were booked into the Sequatchie County Jail, where they face charges of theft and possession of burglary tools. Additional charges may be added as the investigation continues.

Myers and Cooley are scheduled for an April 20 court appearance in Sequatchie County General Sessions Court.

(Photo courtesy of Dunlap News)