Suspected Chop Shop Leader Indicted on 17 Counts in Oconee
An Oconee County grand jury returned the indictments against 38-year-old Kirk Devon Bray on Aug. 9.
An Oconee County grand jury has handed down a 16-count indictment against Kirk Devon Bray, 38, of Canton.
The indictment alleges Bray knowingly received a stolen Ford pickup truck on May 5, 2011, drove recklessly while attempting to flee from Oconee County deputies and crashed into a truck at Ga. 316 and the Oconee Connector. The driver and passenger of the other vehicle, grandparents of a deputy, were seriously injured in the accident, authorities said.
Additionally, Bray --who is still behind bars at the Oconee County Jail-- was indicted on counts of receiving a stolen handgun, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during commission of a felony, and possession of methamphetamine.
A separate one-count indictment alleges Bray and Lauren Elizabeth Lanard, 22, of Bishop, stole a truck from LAD Truck Lines in Watkinsville on April 30, 2011.
The indictments were filed with the Oconee County Clerk of Superior Court on Aug. 9.
Criminal indictments are not evidence of guilt; they are only charges. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Bray, Lanard, and her sister, Kori Lanard, a former Atlanta Falcons cheerleader, may have been involved in a larger, multi-jurisdicional stolen vehicle and heavy equipment chop shop operation, according to multiple news reports. Kori Lanard was charged in Lincoln County on April 29 after she, and Bray and Lauren Lanard were found with stolen property there.