NATCHEZ — Quick thinking by an Adams County Sheriff’s Office deputy Thursday morning led to the recovery of a stolen all-terrain vehicle and the search for the thief.

Sheriff Travis Patten said a deputy was working an accident at 4 a.m. Thursday in the Cranfield community when a man driving an ATV sped past on Cranfield Road.

In Mississippi, ATVs are prohibited on public roads.

Patten said the officer quickly finished attending to the accident and pursued the ATV until the suspect abandoned the vehicle and escaped on foot.

After further investigation, the ATV was identified as being stolen, and the ATV was returned to the owner.

“He got the four-wheeler back to the owner before he even knew it was stolen,” Patten said.

Regional law enforcement agencies, Patten said, have been investigating a ring of ATV thefts.

Patten said the ATVs were taken apart, mixed up and then put back together so that the vehicles could notbe identified as stolen. The newly built ATVs are then sold out of state, Patten said.

Patten said ATV thefts are being investigated from Wilkinson County to Warren County.

Patten said he did not know yet if Thursday morning’s incident was connected to the theft ring under investigation.