Man Indicted After Dumping Off Stolen Motorcycle and Heading to the Bar

SAN ANGELO, TX –  A San Angelo man has been indicted for allegedly stealing a motorcycle, running from police, and then ditching the stolen bike to go to a bar.

According to court documents, on Jan. 11, a man was offering to sell his motorcycle to 22-year-old Wesley Mitcham. Mitcham told the man that he was going to test drive it, but never returned with the bike. The following day an officer with the San Angelo Police Department saw a motorcycle that had invalid, out of state plates.

The officer than attempted to pull over the motorcycle. The driver did not stop for the officer but instead accelerated in order to try and get away from him. Police chased the man for a few blocks but the chase was called off when they got to the 2800 block of Sherwood Way. According to the Affidavit the bike was located after about five minutes later in the parking lot of NAPA auto parts along with Mitcham walking towards Fiddlestrings but no arrest was made that day.

On Jan. 18, crime scene investigators assigned to the case found fingerprints on the motorcycle that came back positive as Mitcham. Police say from that day until Feb. 12 they tried to contact the registered owner of the motorcycle without any luck. They were finally able to make contact with owner of the bike on Feb. 13 and he told police how Mitcham took the bike for a test drive and never came back. The owner also told police that Mitcham had returned to his house on Jan. 29 to return the keys and ask him to not press charges.

Mitcham was arrested on the Feb. 19 and was indicted by a Tom Green County grand jury on March 7. He was charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle which is a state jail felony and evading arrest with a vehicle which is a third degree felony but is enhanced to a second degree felony due to a prior felony of forgery of a government instrument.

His initial pretrial is set for May 7.