July 28--CROSSVILLE -- Two Cumberland County men were detained and questioned in connection with an early Friday morning fire that destroyed or damaged two tractor-trailer rigs and a pickup parked at a closed business north of the city.
Crossville Police and Fire Department personnel were dispatched to TLD Trucking off Interchange Dr. shortly after midnight Friday after a passerby called 911 to report one or more trucks on fire. The business is located next to Stowers Machinery Corp.
Responding firefighters found a front gate to the facility locked and had to forced their way into the scene to begin fighting the fire. It is believed that one vehicle was set on fire and that the fire spread to the second and third vehicles.
Damage to a 2012 International Prostar truck was placed at $140,000. A second 2012 International Prostar truck suffered an estimated $15,000 in damage, and a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 was listed with $5,000 in damage, according to Ptl. Daniel Coleman's report.
As police and fire personnel were on the scene of the fire, an unidentified trucker passing by on I-40 reported to 911 that he observed a man running from the business at the time the fire broke out. That man got into a 2010 Ford Fusion that was parked in the west lane of I-40.
Cumberland County sheriff's deputies were alerted, and the vehicle was reported to have traveled I-40 to the Plateau Rd. exit, and then to Hwy. 70 N where it traveled toward Crossville.
Deputy Cpl. Tim Tutor spotted the vehicle and stopped it at the entrance to the Crossville Livestock Exchange across from the Crossville Flea Market. Two occupants, a 26-year-old Dunbar Dr. man and a 19-year-old Town Branch man were detained and questioned by police.
Crossville Fire Department Deputy Chief Chris South responded to the traffic stop with an accelerant detection device, and the results of that led to one suspect being take to the Justice Center and held on an investigative hold, while the other was transported to the Crossville Police Department where he gave a statement to Det. Danny Harris.
Investigation is continuing. Sgts. Anthony Akins and Chris Kendrick were also involved in the probe.
Copyright 2014 - Crossville Chronicle, Tenn.
