19-year-old Cheika Diatta was charged with theft of property after he and his associates were seen on camera in a stolen vehicle and were found in a motel room that smelled like marijuana with over $5,000 on him.
On September 27th, Shelby County Sheriff Deputy Dowdy had written a continuation for a stolen motor vehicle that was located at 7387 Unbridle Way. Deputy Dowdy was on a routine patrol in the area of Hacks Cross Road and Lowrance Road. Deputy Dowdy checked the At Home Inn located at 7967 Lowrance Road and observed a black Dodge Challenger valued at $36,000 with a red hood. It matched the description of a stolen vehicle from a report on August 12th. Deputy Matthews with the hotel staff and camera footage was able to see the vehicle had been parked for several hours and three black males exited the vehicle. Deputies approached room 320 and performed a knock and talk to no avail, then heard the toilet flushing.
The door to the room was opened and deputies saw that the room was smoked filled and smelled strongly of marijuana. Cheikh Diatta, Marquiveon Tennial, Mamadou Secka, Rderrius Walls, and Tyler Kendall were inside the room and were detained. They saw what appeared to be marijuana floating in the toilet as if they were attempting to flush it prior to opening the door. A small amount of marijuana was also seen sitting on the coffee table that weighed approximately 16.3 grams. Deputy Dowdy found a set of car keys in the front pocket of Cheikh Diatta’s pants during a search, along with a large sum of money that totaled $5,288. The keys found in Diatta’s pocket unlocked the stolen vehicle in the parking lot.
Cheikh Diatta was arrested and charged with theft of property ($10,000-$60,000.) He was released on a $10,000 bond.
