Brian Paul Sage Jr., 28, of Eureka has been accused of stealing a car that was found in Byrnes Mill. The 2000 Acura had been stolen from a parking lot in the 8800 block of Old Hwy. 21 north of Hillsboro, court records show.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on March 18 charged Sage with first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, a class D felony that carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison, according to court documents
As of today, March 24, Sage was being held on a $10,000-surety bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, court records said.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Maren Biermann is prosecuting the case.
According to the case’s probable-cause statement, a man reported the car stolen on Sept. 9, 2024. The Acura was recovered on Sept. 14, 2024.
Investigators allegedly found numerous personal documents that belonged to Sage in the car, along with his fingerprints. There also was a handwritten bill of sale that listed a previous owner of the car as the seller, and it was allegedly signed by Sage, the report said.
The woman who was listed as the seller on the bill of sale told investigators she did not sell the car and did not complete the document, according to the report.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for Sage’s cell phone records, and his phone allegedly was detected in the area during the time when the car was stolen, the report said.
After Sage was arrested, he allegedly told investigators he purchased the car at the location it was stolen from. He said the car was later stolen from him, but he did not report the theft, according to the report.
Sage was on probation when the car was stolen. He had pleaded guilty to a possession of an illegal substance charge in Jefferson County in February 2020 and had pleaded guilty to a felony stealing charge in December 2023, court records show.