Laurel County Sheriff John Root reports that Lieut. Brett Reeves, Detective Gary Jordan, and shift Sgt. Travis Napier arrested two people on Friday, August 29, 2025, at around 3:55 PM.
The arrests took place off Highway 26 about 3 miles south of Corbin, as Laurel County Sheriff’s officers were investigating numerous pieces of heavy equipment that had been stolen out of state and brought to the Laurel County area to be sold to a local business. According to reports, a 2018 D5K Caterpillar dozer worth $65,000 was delivered to a business on August 13th, 2025. That piece of equipment was determined to have been stolen from Fairfax, Virginia, and was probed by authorities there. They were able to ping the vehicle while attempting to locate it and found it in London, Kentucky, where they contacted the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office for assistance with the investigation. When selling it in Laurel County, the vendor used fraudulent identification. On August 29th, 2025, Laurel County officers conducted an undercover operation to make contact with the suspect and offer two additional pieces of heavy equipment. The suspect and an accomplice transported two pieces of heavy equipment to the South Laurel/Corbin area, a 259 skid steer valued at $47,000 and a 308 excavator valued at $73,000, and appear to have become confused about the delivery site.
Laurel County deputies saw the truck driving toward Woodbine on Highway 26 south of Corbin and conducted a traffic stop and investigation into the two pieces of heavy equipment, neither of which was identified as stolen based on their serial numbers. However, Laurel County authorities contacted Boyd Caterpillar of Corbin, who supported deputies in their investigation by contacting companies out of state and determining that both pieces of equipment were stolen from Maryland. Dushon Sheperd, 34, of Southfield, Michigan, and Bria Parks, 23, of Washington, D.C., were charged on a complaint warrant of arrest with two counts of receiving stolen property worth $10,000 or more, and both were lodged in the Laurel County Correctional Center. Photos of the accused are courtesy of the Laurel County Correctional Center. Other deputies who helped with the investigation included Laurel Sheriff’s Detective Tommy Houston, Detective Brad Mink, Deputy Zach Strong, and Deputy Sidney Wagner. KSP Troopers Millard Root and Bristin Smith (assigned to commercial vehicle enforcement) also lent a hand.
Sheriff Root indicated that this investigation required extensive cooperation among law enforcement agencies, culminating in two arrests and the recovery of nearly $185,000 in heavy equipment.
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