Clarksville Police say thanks to citizen awareness, officers were able to apprehend a man after stole a vehicle from a car dealership.

On Tuesday, around 9:40 p.m. officers received a call about suspicious activity from a female clerk at a Riverside Drive business.

The clerk told police that a man, now identified as 52-year old Hernandez Wilson, whose last known address is unknown, is often seen panhandling in the area and came into the business with multiple sets of car keys in his possession and told her he acquired a vehicle and was headed to Alabama.

The clerk also stated Wilson conveyed the vehicle belonged to a woman and she was letting him drive it and left the store to a car dealership nearby and got into a silver KIA SUV and drove it off the lot.

The clerk noticed the vehicle had no license plate or temporary tag and that he was the only occupant in the vehicle, so that’s when she notified authorities.

Police say the vehicle was located around 11:30 p.m. that same night at a Madison Street Wal-Mart parking lot by a county dispatcher, who was familiar with the earlier suspicious activity call. 

An investigation determined Wilson entered the car dealership after hours while a cleaning crew was working and was able to obtain several sets of car keys. 

Wilson told police he planned on visiting family in Alabama with the stolen vehicle.

Wilson, who has an extensive criminal history outside of Montgomery County, is now charged with one count of theft and is lodged in the Montgomery County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
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