Like the song says, one thing leads to another. That was the case June 26 when what began as a trip to Tyrone Police Department to pay a fine led to the discovery of a stolen vehicle and rifle and a charge marijuana possession.

The unexpected series of events began when 19 year-old Clarkston resident Terrance Johnson arrived at the police department to settle up on a citation and bench warrant he received for failure to appear in town court. But Johnson did not bring enough money to cover the charges and was taken into custody for transport to Fayette County Jail, said police spokesperson Alicia Batts.

Johnson was loaded into the police cruiser, leaving behind two friends that had accompanied him to the station in a Ford Expedition, Batts said. The friends began to pull out of the parking lot behind the the cruiser and, as they did, officers in the parking noted the license number and ran them through the state system for security reasons since the vehicle was preparing to follow an officer, said Batts.

A check of the vehicle showed that it had been stolen in Atlanta in April, Batts said. With that information, other officers located the vehicle at a convenience store on Senoia Road. Upon detaining the occupants, officers found that the 19 year-old driver, Joshua Kahlil Reed, of Decatur, was in possession of a small amount of marijuana, said Batts, and was subsequently charged.

A search of the vehicle revealed the presence of a handgun and a rifle, Batts said. The rifle had been reported stolen from New Mexico, said Batts. As for the handgun, one of the occupants told officers he had been with Johnson earlier in the day when he purchased the weapon from a pawn shop, Batts said. When asked later by officers, Johnson produced a receipt for the rifle and was not charged, though he was charged on the vehicle for theft by receiving stolen property, said Batts.