Hamilton County, TN – On September 26, 2023 at approximately 8:45 am, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to the Highway 58 Volunteer Fire Department’s Station 3 located at 13430 Birchwood Pike for a reported theft.

Upon arrival, deputies spoke with Highway 58 Fire Administration who informed them he had been looking into a string of thefts that occurred at Station 3 as well as stations 2, 4, and 5 on September 21, 2023.

During the fire department’s investigation one common denominator between each location of the theft which was Derek Lamar Dean. Dean is an employee of the Hamilton County Maintenance Division and was tasked with inspecting the heating units at each of these locations.

Video footage at the different stations confirmed Derek was present and footage at one specific station captured him in a Hamilton County uniform stealing a Weedeater.

Based on the information obtained from the Fire Department and the video footage of the Weedeater theft, a felony warrant for Theft of Property was taken out on Dean for the theft of the following items totaling approximately $2,600:

• Station #2 at 9018 Career Lane: Stihl BR-800 blower $700

• Station #3 at 13430 Birchwood Pike: Stihl FS56RC weed eater $250

• Station #4 at 10900 Highway 58: Sony PlayStation 5 $600

• Station #5 at 6042 Cooley Road: Stihl BR-800 blower $700 & Stihl 260 chainsaw $350

Dean was taken into custody this morning at his place of work by HCSO deputies for the aforementioned theft and transported to the Hamilton County Jail & Detention Center where he is awaiting booking.

No further details are available.