Man booked with theft of 20 tires from a Chalmette store at night after deputy on patrol sees him driving out from behind the building in a rental truck

Jonathan Burden, driver of truck, who was booked with felony theft of the tires.

Stolen tires recovered in cargo of rental truck spotted leaving from behind a Chalmette store. Photo by Ryan Melerine.

A Marrero man was booked with felony theft of about 20 tires from a Chalmette store late Wednesday night after a sheriff’s deputy on patrol thought it odd that he was driving a rental truck out from behind the building when the business was closed, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Jonathan Burden, 40, was arrested just before midnight when Dep. Ryan Melerine, on patrol on West Judge Perez Drive, stopped him for questioning after spotting him driving a large U-Haul truck out from behind a tire business.

Sheriff Pohlmann said, “This is an example of an arrest made and stolen property recovered because a sheriff’s deputy on patrol was alert and took the time to investigate something that didn’t seem right to him,’’ the sheriff said of Melerine.

Burden initially told Deputy Melerine he had gone behind the building because he had to go to the bathroom and was simply leaving when he was spotted.

When asked about the rental truck, Burden said he was in the tire business and happened to have tires in the back of the vehicle, saying he had rented it that afternoon to move furniture, but couldn’t provide any documentation.

Burden opened the back and there were about 20 used tires.

But Melerine also noticed they were wet, as if they had recently been outside.

Under questioning, the driver denied taking any tires from the tire business. But Melerine contacted a store official who said no one had permission to be on the property behind the business and also said any used tires behind there would have been stacked neatly.

A sheriff’s report of the arrest said the deputy found that the tires left behind the store were thrown about as if someone had sorted through them.

Burden was arrested and booked with felony theft of goods worth more than $500, criminal trespassing and with traffic offenses. He was being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison lin liru of bond set at $10,000.