“Stolen” Vehicle Results in False Report Conviction

A Knox County jury convicted Mohammad Nuri of False Report after he lied to KPD officers about a “stolen” vehicle. Prosecutor Sarah Keith of the Career Gang Unit presented the State’s case to the jury. On Tuesday, May 28, 2013, Nuri contacted Officer Roger Simmons with the Knoxville Police Department and reported that his vehicle had been stolen from the Walmart parking lot on May 3, 2013. Officer Simmons filed the report and entered the vehicle into the National Crime Information Center database. However, Ofc. Simmons’ investigation revealed that the defendant was actually involved in a single vehicle crash in Alcoa, Tennessee, on May 5, 2013. The defendant left his vehicle in the CVS parking lot in Alcoa on May 5, after informing Alcoa Police Department Ofc. Dustin Cook that he planned to get it towed himself and did not wish to file a police report or a report with his insurance company. On May 23, CVS had the car towed from their parking lot where it had remained continuously since the May 5 crash. The defendant asserted that he simply forgot about the crash and only recalled leaving the car at Walmart in early May. Judge Steve Sword set a sentencing hearing for July 9. False Report is a Class D Felony carrying a punishment between two and four years.

If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.