The Wholesale Import Cars employees who pressed their faces to the glass saw the same thing: four Michelin tires in the back seat of Michael Thompson’s Volkswagen.
Stealing equipment from the small family company seemed unlike Thompson, a six-year employee of the Signal Mountain Road company. But instead of confronting Thompson – who planned to buy the tires – his boss called police on July 24, 2014, the 48-year-old’s defense attorney argued Tuesday during his trial in Hamilton County Criminal Court.
“There’s an innocent man sitting right there,” attorney Joshua Weiss said to jurors and pointing at Thompson. “This case is a bunch of nonsense, and it’s a waste of all of our time. I’m sorry you’re sitting through it, because Mr. Thompson did not steal those tires.”
In this 2002 file photo, Russell Webster stands next to a Mercedes at Wholesale Import Cars.Calling the state’s proof “overinflated, out of alignment, and bald-faced lies,” Weiss characterized Thompson as a detail man who opened shop every morning with a pair of keys to the building. It was his job to ensure cars were presentable, to do landscaping and other odd duties. And on July 24, 2014, around 7 in the morning, Thompson performed his duties alongside another coworker before taking four tires that he planned to give to his mother-in-law – and that he planned to purchase, Weiss said.
“He put four full-sized tires into a Volkswagen, in broad daylight, in front of his coworkers,” Weiss said. “He had no intentions of stealing.”
In the past, Thompson bought two vehicles and multiple batteries and auto parts from his boss, with deductions coming straight from his paycheck, Weiss said. He expected this transaction to be no different and returned to work.
At 9:17 a.m. though, his boss called the police and Thompson was arrested and charged with theft of property over $1,000.
Prosecutor Charlie Minor called three witnesses to the stand, all employees of Wholesale Import Cars. Thompson parked his car in an unusual spot that morning – behind a dumpster, two employees said. One saw the tires in Thompson’s back seat; the other, his manager Russell Webster, said he saw something in Thompson’s back seat, which was enough to justify his call to police.
William Wigley, who worked side-by-side with Thompson, said he saw his friend taking out the tires that morning. Wigley didn’t know whether Thompson was trying to steal them. He asked Thompson what he was doing.
“He was going to get his,” Wigley recalled Thompson saying Tuesday.
Weiss asked Wigley if he remembered several cars being brought into the lot that morning from Atlanta, circling back to his opening argument that Thompson had parked in a different spot because of the high number of vehicles.
“Yeah, that happened pretty frequent,” Wigley said.
Weiss spent much of Tuesday asking employees why they didn’t give Thompson a chance to explain himself before calling the cops, and the cost of the tires. The tires’ value is an important detail if the state cannot prove they were worth at least $1,000.
At Tuesday’s end, he called Thompson and his wife to the stand.
On the stand, Thompson said he got to work at 6 a.m., cleaned the office and performed his usual job duties. He discounted Wigley’s comments, chalking them up to a squabble they had the day before.
He said he never got the chance to ask Webster about the tires because he was busy detailing several cars in the lot. If he didn’t, he said, Webster would be unhappy.
“Was it ever your intention to tell Mr. Russell you put these tires in your car?” Weiss asked.
“As soon as I got back up,” Thompson replied.
The trial continues today in Judge Don Poole’s courtroom.
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347 with story ideas or tips. Follow @zackpeterson918.