Thief Strikes I-40 Construction Zone

The Cocke County Sheriff’s office is investigating after a thief or thieves struck at a portion of I-40 that is currently closed to all but local traffic. A representative with Blaylock Construction says a crew left the site near mile marker 449 on Saturday afternoon and when they returned Monday morning, they found the barricade had been moved and equipment stolen. A skid steer was not where they had left it and they noticed noticed a set of pallet forks, a tooth bucket and a grapple bucket were all missing. Samuel Nelson of Blaylock says whoever took the items knew how to use heavy equipment, because they had used the skid steer to move the missing equipment. The value of that equipment stolen is around $9,000. If you know anything about that theft, call the Cocke County Sheriff’s office.