Two men have been charged after carjacking multiple truck drivers in Memphis using a booting scheme.
Two instances of semi truck theft occurred in Memphis, Tennessee between April and July of this year, reported WREG News.
The first reported incident happened on April 16th near the airport. The truck driver says he pulled into a lot in the 3400 block of Lamar Avenue for his reset when a man booted his truck and demanded $265 to remove it. The truck driver says he paid the fee online, but the man claimed he did not receive the payment and had security guards armed with guns forcibly remove him from the truck cab. The truck was then towed.
On July 18th, a second truck driver was parked at the Shelby Express truck stop on Shelby Drive when multiple armed men booted his rig and demanded $265 to remove the boot. The truck driver said his dispatcher then made the payment through an app, but the men claimed the payment did not come fast enough. The men then kicked the driver to the ground and held him down while another hooked up the truck and towed it away.
The driver later told police he received a bill for A-1 Towing and Hauling, and his company paid an additional $2,535 to get the truck back that night.
The driver car jacked in April was able to provide police with photos of two individuals involved in the theft, and the driver robbed in July identified one of them, 28-year-old Rickey Hines, as the man who pushed him to the ground. Hines was already a suspect in similar incidents. Police identified the other man as 34-year-old Quinterius Harrell.
Both men have been charged with carjacking and possession of a firearm during a dangerous felony. Both are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, July 27th.