Abilene Police Recover Thousands of Dollars in Stolen Property and Arrest Three

ABILENE – On January 21, 2016, at approximately 2 a.m. Abilene Police Officers responded to a theft in progress in the Lake Ft. Phantom area. Officers stopped Jeremy Bryan (26), pulling a trailer and Polaris ATV, both found to be stolen from a north Abilene residence. Street Crimes assisted and revealed another person may have been involved in the theft. During that investigation, Brian Helmuth (47) was contacted at Lake Ft. Phantom. He was found to be in possession of methamphetamine.

During the investigation, Officers saw a white Ford F250 pulling a cattle trailer by the residence suspiciously. Officers contacted the driver, Charles Smith (28) who was found to be driving the F250 which was reported stolen out of Abilene days earlier along with the trailer which was reported stolen the day before from Haskell County. Search of the truck revealed methamphetamine. Inside the trailer were three all-terrain vehicles (ATV), six firearms and various hunting equipment. All items were found to have been stolen out of Haskell County earlier in the evening.

In all, three males were arrested. Jeremy Bryan was arrested for State Jail Felony Theft. Brian Helmuth was arrested for Possession of Methamphetamine. Charles Smith was arrested for State Jail Felony Theft of Motor Vehicle; Possession of Methamphetamine and Unauthorized Use of Motor Vehicle warrant out of Haskell Co. Smith will have pending charges in Haskell Co. for Theft, Burglary and theft of a Firearm.

Approximately $74,000 in stolen property was recovered during this investigation.

Pictured above:  Jeremy Bryan, Brian Helmuth and Charles Smith. (APD photos)