Man Dressed in Camo Accused of Stealing Truck Battery for Broken Down Van

A Watkinsville man on Friday afternoon reportedly told an Oconee County Sheriff's deputy that he took a battery from a truck parked inside of a shed at a property on Daniels Bridge Road after his van had broken down.

A deputy on patrol in the area around 4:45 p.m. spotted the 1992 gold Mazda MVP parked on the side of the road near Lake Welbrook, according to an incident report. As he exited the vehicle, the deputy says he saw a man wearing a long-sleeved camouflage shirt and black sweat pants running alongside the woods beside a home.

The deputy called out to the man and asked him what he was doing.  According to the deputy, the man replied that his van had broken down.

"I again asked what he was doing and he advised looking for a battery," the deputy wrote in the report.  "He advised he did not know the people that reside at the house which he was at but that he was taking a battery from a truck located in a shed behind the house."

Adian Charles Liles, 30, was placed in handcuffs and investigators were called to the scene.

Deputies say they found a car battery in the wood line.  They then popped the hood of an unlocked truck that was inside of a shed and saw the battery was missing. Deputies also spoke with the homeowners who identified the $200 Autocraft battery as theirs. 

The deputy noted in the report that there didn't appear to be any other signs of foul play.

Liles was taken to the Oconee County Jail and booked on charges of burglary in the second degree, entering auto and possession of tools for the commission of a crime.

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