Tecumseh man charged with stealing a motor vehicle, selling it on Facebook

Jerry Joseph Chassion of Tecumseh is scheduled to appear for a plea hearing or trial setting at 1:30 p.m. today in a case in which he’s been indicted by an Ozark County grand jury with stealing a vehicle involving the 2022 theft of a Buick sedan. The results of that hearing were not available at presstime. 

He was arrested March 22 and arraigned and released from custody the same day with supervision from Court Probationary Services. Online docket reports say that he applied for the public defender to represent him. 

According to the probable cause statement prepared by Ozark County Deputy Stephen A. Ator, at 1:17 p.m. May 26, 2022, the deputy interviewed the victim of the case in the lobby of the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department. 

The victim reported that Chaisson removed a black 2008 Buick sedan from a location in Theodosia on May 21, 2022, where the victim had the vehicle stored after it was left to him from his father. 

On Sept. 9, 2022, the Springfield Police Department stopped a black 2008 Buick sedan, and the vehicle’s VIN number matched that of the one stolen from Ozark County. 

The driver of the vehicle said he bought the vehicle from Chaisson, who had listed it for sale on Facebook marketplace. The driver said he paid $1,200 and had a bill of sale from Chaisson. The officer who stopped the vehicle said he did not have probable cause to charge the driver with possessing stolen property.