Two Prattville brothers in a stolen car were arrested together in November on unrelated charges.
A Buick Encore was reported stolen on Nov. 4 to the Prattville Police Department. The next day the car was stopped by officers with the Prattville Police Department. Driving they found Belkis Whitfield, 18, of Prattville, and brother Deandre Whitfield, 19, of Prattville, in the passenger seat.
The brothers were before Elmore County District Court Judge Glen Goggans Tuesday for a preliminary and bond reduction hearing.
Prattville police officer Kaitlyn Sweat testified she was on patrol Nov. 5 and conducted a traffic stop.
“(The vehicle) had been reported as stolen the night before,” Sweat said. “I recognized the vehicle because of the description.”
Sweat said Belkis Whitfield made a statement he purchased the car the day before for $2,300 from an ad on Facebook marketplace. He didn’t have a bill of sale or title. Whitfield told Sweat he had lost the messages about the transaction.
Whitfield told law enforcement he completed the purchase in the parking lot of the Prattville Walmart.
Whitfield had the keyfob to the car that the theft victim stated was left in the car.
Sweat said data recovered from Whitfield’s phone stated he knew the vehicle was stolen.
Deandre Whitfield was in the passenger seat. He admitted to officers on the scene about a gun in the glove box.
“He said he knew the car didn’t have insurance and didn’t load the gun in case they got pulled over,” Sweat said. “He said he had the gun for protection.”
Whitfield told police he paid $400 for the gun the year before in Montgomery from someone he didn’t know. When police ran the serial number to the gun, it came back as stolen from a 2020 case.
Goggans bound both cases over to the grand jury and left the bonds at $15,000 each.
