Vehicle Theft Task Force Detectives Arrest Two Suspects, Seize Stolen Vehicles, Drugs and Firearms from Mesa Auto Business

On Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) Vehicle Theft Task Force (VTTF) detectives arrested two suspects on multiple felony charges after seven stolen vehicles, methamphetamine, and multiple firearms were located at an automotive business in Mesa. Detectives also located two human skulls on the property.

Detectives served a search warrant at Meadows Auto near 1st Avenue and Country Club Drive on Feb. 8 after investigators discovered stolen vehicles on the property during a business inspection. The stolen vehicles included a 2008 Ford pickup truck, a 2016 Arctic Cat, a Clark forklift, and four trailers.

Approximately two pounds of methamphetamine, two rifles, one sawed-off shotgun, and two human skulls were also found on the property. The skulls were turned over to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office for further investigation.

Property owner Eddie Meadows, 45, was booked into the Maricopa County Jail on multiple charges including theft of means of transportation, possession of a weapon by a prohibited possessor, and possession of a dangerous drug.

Tara Montgomery, 40, was also booked into jail on numerous drug-related charges.

Funded by the Arizona Automobile Theft Authority, the VTTF is administered and led by AZDPS. The VTTF is a statewide resource comprised of multiple law enforcement partners working in a coordinated effort to leverage human and capital resources to disrupt, dismantle, apprehend, and prosecute individuals and criminal organizations that profit from the theft of motor vehicle related crimes.