When a deputy stopped to check on a Monte Carlo that was out of gas, he discovered it was a stolen vehicle. Not long after that, another deputy stopped to check on a man walking along the highway who turned out to be the suspect.   

Brandon Tyler Robinson, 38, Greenup, Ill., was arrested by Deputy Camron Frye of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department on Thursday night, December 30, 2021.

Deputy Frye was headed west out of Bloomfield on State Road 54 toward the Veterans Bridge over White River around 9:43 p.m. that Thursday when he saw a passenger vehicle with the dome light on, parked off the shoulder of the eastbound lane. So Deputy Frye turned around and stopped at the vehicle, telling dispatch he was checking on a vehicle that had possibly broken-down. There was nobody around and the keys were not in the ignition. It was a silver 2002 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with an Illinois license plate.

When dispatch ran a check on the plate, Deputy Frye learned the vehicle had been reported as stolen out of Cumberland County in Illinois and a sergeant from the Greenup Police Department wanted to talk to Deputy Frye.

About this same time, GCSD Deputy Michael Coy was traveling on the same road and came across a man walking east of the area where the Monte Carlo was parked. Deputy Coy stopped to talk to the man who was identified as Brandon Robinson. Robinson said he’d been driving his friend’s vehicle but it had run out of gas. Robinson said he was from Cumberland County in Illinois. He had an identification card but no driver’s license.

When Deputy Frye made contact with Sgt. Wicke in Illinois, he was told that Robinson had a history of vehicle theft and would be facing criminal charges in Illinois for the theft of the vehicle.

When Robinson was advised of the situation by Deputy Frye, Robinson declined to speak to officers then was taken into custody. When searched, Deputy Coy reported finding a burnt hand-rolled cigarette in Robinson’s pocket that later field-tested positive for the presence of marijuana.

Further checks on Robinson’s record in Indiana revealed he was convicted of auto theft in Gibson County in 2012.

Robinson was booked into the Greene County Jail at 10:49 p.m. He was initially held without bond.

A criminal case was filed against Robinson on Tuesday and when he appeared for his initial hearing in Greene Circuit Court on Wednesday, he was charged with:

• Auto theft – with a prior conviction, a Level 5 felony, and

• Possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor.

As of late Friday, January 7, Robinson remains in custody.