Two bass anglers’ trucks at a local boat ramp in Meigs County, Tennessee were broken into and set ablaze. Several other vehicles were vandalized in the incident.
One of the bass anglers, Tennessee Deputy Sheriff John Amos, owned one of the destroyed vehicles. At the time of the crime, Amos was a mile and a half away on Chickamauga Lake.
He recalls hearing sirens before receiving a call that he will likely never forget. “We had been fishing a few hours and heard all kinds of commotion,” Amos said. “I jokingly looked at my buddy and told him I hoped it wasn’t my rig. But sure enough, it was.”
Amos found his truck, along with one other, on fire upon returning to the Goodfield Boat Ramp. The criminals stole items from both trucks before burning them.
At this time, Amos says the authorities have no suspects. “We don’t have any leads right now,” he said. “They found blood in one vehicle and swabbed it to send in for DNA.
There are no cameras in use at the Goodfield Boat Ramp. Amos explains that he and other boaters would like to see security cameras added in light of recent events. “I understand there are budget constraints,” he said. “There are the TVA sirens at these boat ramps, so there is a power source available. If funding could ever become available to put cameras up.”
The Impact of the Crime
Amos explains that he likely won’t be back on the water any time soon. “[The criminals] could have just stolen my crap, busted my windshield and gone on,” he said. “But now my fishing is over; I have no way to transport my boat and fishing is my stress relief.
The incident caused significant financial damage to Amos and his family. “From a personal standpoint, my 6-year-old son was a $300,000 baby,” Amos said. “He spent a month in NICU. My wife and I are finally climbing out of that financial hole and this happens on our 7-year anniversary. I work law enforcement and don’t have a big budget.”
Amos says he has learned his lesson from this unfortunate incident. “There are a lot more things going on in the world than my truck burning,” Amos said. “I learned my lesson about liability insurance. And I’ll just fight through it and recover. These folks got away with a GoPro full of fishing footage, a small toolset, a motorcycle helmet and about $2.50 in change. They burned my truck to the ground just for that.”
[H/T Wired2Fish, Wdef]
