Members of a Simms, Texas family have been arrested and charged with Filing a False Report to a Peace Officer in the case of an ATV that was reported stolen after one of the family members allegedly sank the ATV in a pond to avoid having to make any more payments.
Sheriff James Prince posted,
These were nice people, but stealing from the insurance company is still stealing. I know insurance rates seem ridiculously high, but this may be part of the reason why. The other thing bad about this kind of case is while they had us investigating a false report, we could be investigating actual crimes.
B.C.S.O. Press Release:
Randall Gates reported a 2015 Polaris Sportsman all-terrain vehicle (ATV) stolen to the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office on behalf of his son Matthew Gates who was out of town. Lieutenant George Huggins took an offense report from Randall Gates for this stolen ATV. Shortly after this report was taken, Sheriff James Prince received anonymous information that the ATV reported stolen had been submerged in a pond not far from the Gates’ home. Deputies went to this location which was found to belong to the Nickerson family. Lieutenant Huggins spoke with Cody Nickerson at this address. Mr. Nickerson was familiar with the Gates’ family and the fact that they had sunk Matt Gate’s ATV in his family’s pond. He granted deputies permission to search his property for the ATV that had been reported stolen. Mr. Nickerson showed deputies the pond where the ATV had been immersed and helped them remove it from the water. Matthew Gates, Randall Gates and Tina Gates were all later interviewed individually. All three admitted to playing a role in the concealment of this ATV and falsely reporting it as stolen. Matthew Gates told investigators that he felt as though he could no longer afford the payments on this ATV. Matthew’s mother, Tina Gates, offered to take over the payments, but he did not want to burden her with them. Matthew then drove his ATV into the pond and cut the tires. Randall Gates called and reported Matthew’s ATV stolen after Matthew had time to leave town. Tina Gates called their insurance company and filed a claim for this ATV being stolen. Arrest Warrants were obtained for Matthew, Randall and Tina Gates for False Report to a Peace Officer. Matthew Gates was arrest on July 17, 2017 and placed in the Bi-State Jail. His bond was set at 3,000.00 by Judge Nancy Talley and he has since bonded out of jail. Randall and Tina Gates were both arrested on July 21, 2017 and booked into the Bi-State Jail. Judge Nancy Talley set their bonds at $3,000.00 apiece. Both Randall and Tina Gates were still in custody at the time of this release.
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