From Franklin Police 1-18-2023 – One suspect is behind bars this morning, and Franklin Police are working to identify up to four more. It all started after a call from an alert neighbor who looked outside their Archdale Avenue home after hearing a saw at about 2:00 am. When the resident looked outside, they observed two men stealing a catalytic converter from under a neighbor’s vehicle.
Responding officers spotted the suspect vehicle on Carothers and it fled southbound on I-65. Williamson County Sheriff’s Office Deputies assisted in trying to stop the fleeing vehicle, which was ultimately found abandoned in the I-840 median near the Williamson/Maury county line. That car was determined to have been stolen in a January 8 carjacking in Chicago. The suspects who were in that stolen vehicle were not located.
At about this same time, a third suspect trying to get out of the Carothers Parkway corridor crashed another vehicle near Murfreesboro Rd. and Pate Rd. That vehicle had a stolen tag on it. The car was found abandoned but the suspect was ultimately captured on foot in a nearby neighborhood after Franklin Police used an automated system to alert residents that a suspect was on the loose nearby (click here for more info on that system). A resident who got that message called police after spotting the suspect walking around.
Dannie Bonds, 34, of Rockford, IL is in custody, charged with Felony Evading, Felony Theft, and Providing False Information to Police. A third suspect vehicle fled the same area and was not located. Detectives are working to identify up to four additional at-large suspects.
Franklin Police credit the initial caller who heard the saw and the caller who spotted a suspect after getting the alert with stopping these felons in their tracks. Lt. Charlie Warner said, “Keeping Franklin safe is a shared responsibility, and engaged citizens are a vital component to the work that our officers do. We are so thankful for the two residents who quickly shared information that our police officers used to put a stop to this.”
