Motorcycle Shop Owner Charged With Theft

CARTERSVILLE, GA -- A man patrons relied on to customize their motorcycles has been charged with not performing the work he was paid for.

Detectives with the Cartersville Police Department arrested and charged Frederick Leroy Hether with eight counts of theft by conversion, the agency said.

The arrest follows several weeks of detective work coordinated by investigators after Cartersville police received multiple reports of stolen motorcycles and motorcycle parts, said spokesperson Lt. Mike Bettikofer.

The victims, who reside in multiple states, told police their motorcycles and parts had been sent to Hether to be customized.

Some of the owners said Hether closed his original shop and "transferred their property to an unknown location and was not responding to calls," Cartersville police said.

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Several of those owners tried to track down Hether for several years, as some of the property had been sent to him in 2009.

Cartersville police opened an investigation, and learned Hether moved his business to 76 Center Road -- Velocity Twin Cycles.

However, police learned Hether closed that operation, stopped communicating with customers and "failed to return any of the motorcycles and/or parts to the rightful owners," the agency said.

Investigators tracked down and arrested Hether on June 21, and identified a storage unit he rented in the Cartersville area.

A search conducted at the unit as well as Hether's home recovered eight custom Harley Davidson motorcycles, a travel trailer, multiple motors and parts that were previously reported stolen by customers.

Additionally, all of the motorcycles recovered during the search were missing engines, which were to be customized by Heather.

In the days following the search and Hether's arrest, officers were able to return all motorcycles and most of the parts to their respective owners. The total value of the property returned to those customers is believed to be more than $100,000.

The case is still ongoing, as investigators are working to see if there are any additional victims.

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