Officers recover stolen truck before it’s missed

Clarendon’s Mac Stavenhagen hasn’t had very good luck with pickup trucks lately.

Stavenhagen’s old pickup was wrecked on March 29 when the partially loaded fertilizer spreader he was pulling started fishtailing, spun the lightweight Dodge truck 180 degrees, and flipped it over on its top.

Stavenhagen replaced that truck with a ’94 Chevrolet only to have it stolen from his home last week.

Donley County Deputy Bruce Burrell was on patrol about midnight last Thursday when he saw a suspicious subject near Duckwall’s variety store, according to Sheriff Butch Blackburn. The deputy circled around behind the store with his lights off and discovered ’94 Chevrolet pickup parked there.

Burrell called for assistance, and Chief Deputy Randy Bond picked up 17-year-old Daniel Curry and took him in for questioning. Curry confessed to stealing Stavenhagen’s pickup and was planning to go to Pampa in it, the sheriff said.

Curry remained in the Donley County Jail at press time on a charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and Blackburn said he will face a June 21 grand jury.

Curry is already under indictment for breaking into the vocational agriculture building at Clarendon ISD on April 8, a crime to which he also confessed.  He was out on bond when he stole Stavenhagen’s pickup, Blackburn said.

“I was very fortunate to have recovered [the truck] so quickly,” Stavenhagen said. “I went to bed about 11 p.m. and had gone outside just before that. I didn’t notice if it was gone then.”

The sheriff’s department called Stavenhagen about 12:30 a.m. to say they had found his pickup, he said.

“I’d like to thank the sheriff’s department for being on the ball. They prevented me from losing the truck.”

Sheriff Blackburn commended Deputies Burrell and Bond for their quick action on this case.