Tool thefts, stolen bikes, arson, an angry woman’s bomb threat and a string of four incidents on Monroe Road were among the incidents the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) handled in Lakeland during February.
Editor’s note: All suspects are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and values are estimated for stolen/damaged items. These are brief summaries of detailed SCSO reports.
Feb. 4
Saskatoon Lane (other theft/non-specific)
Someone cut the lock on an enclosed work trailer on the 9800 block of Saskatoon Lane and stole $1,780 of tools and other items.
The victim said the trailer was parked on the street, and the theft happened between 5:30 p.m. Feb. 3 and 9:30 a.m. Feb. 4. Items stolen included a wet saw ($400), hand tools ($250), Ryobi chop saw ($130), Paslode air gun ($300), DeWALT jigsaw ($200), air compressor ($400) and DeWALT radio ($100).
The responding officer observed the damaged lock, took crime scene photos and lifted a partial print from the trailer’s side door.
Feb. 6
Evergreen Creek Drive (theft from motor vehicle)
A resident on the 5300 block of Evergreen Creek Drive reported on Feb. 6 that someone stole his Stihl concrete saw from the bed of his work truck, a Chevrolet Silverado.
The theft occurred sometime between 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29.
Taos Trail (theft from motor vehicle)
A resident on the 10500 block of Taos Trail reported on Feb. 6 that someone stole his Ridgid tool box from the bed of his truck. The victim said he noticed the tool box was missing on Jan. 29 and that it contained $1,000 in tools.
Feb. 7
Fletcher Trace Parkway (other theft/non-specific)
A resident on the 9200 block of Fletcher Trace Parkway reported on Feb. 7 that someone took her two bicycles that were locked to her front porch sometime after 10:30 p.m. the previous evening.
The responding officer saw a bike wire cord and a cut key lock lying on the porch. The bikes were a Lajolla touring bike and a Genesis mountain bike. There is no suspect or additional information in this case.
Feb. 9
Huff N Puff Road (theft from building)
A woman reported on Feb. 9 that some of her belongings were stolen from a room at the Super 8 Lakeland (9779 Huff N Puff Road) while she was in jail. She was sharing the room with a man before her arrest on Feb. 1.
She returned around 4 p.m. Feb. 6 after her release from jail and learned the man had moved to another room with his girlfriend. The front desk clerk would not give her a key to the old room because it was not rented in her name.
The woman returned around 9 p.m. Feb. 7 and spoke with another clerk who remembered her and issued a key to the room. The woman found that only a few bags of her clothing were in the room, and she was missing a Nintendo Wii and RCA tablet.
She said the man has not returned her calls about getting her property back. The responding officer could not place the stolen items in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database because the victim did not have serial numbers available at the time of the report.
Feb. 13
Champions Drive (bomb threat)
The apartment leasing agent at Champion Hills at Stonebridge (2918 Champions Drive) reported a former tenant’s bomb threat on Feb. 13. The former tenant broke the six-month lease before its April 1 end date because she and her husband bought a house.
The agent said the woman visited the leasing office between 1:40 p.m. and about 2 p.m. and got upset when told the apartment had not yet been leased to someone else.
The former tenant reportedly swore at the agent and threatened to blow up the office and everyone in it. A witness heard the commotion and asked the woman to leave and not return.
Both victims said they fear for their safety.
Maple Run Drive (theft from motor vehicle)
A resident on the 10300 block of Maple Run Drive reported on Feb. 13 that someone stole his pistol from his truck’s glove compartment sometime between Jan. 26 and Feb. 12. It was in the glove compartment when his wife took the truck to Mr. Pride Car Wash (1025 W Poplar Ave., Collierville) on Jan. 26.
The victim said he searched his home when he discovered it was missing. He also spoke with the car wash’s manager, who said he had not seen the weapon and did not have video footage going back to Jan. 26.
The pistol was a Ruger 9mm semiautomatic, and an SCSO dispatcher entered its serial number into the NCIC database.
Feb. 15
Monroe Road (identity theft)
A resident on the 10300 block of Monroe Road got an alarming call from someone who identified as a Verizon representative the afternoon of Feb. 15.
The rep said $15,455.64 was due for unpaid services to a cell phone that had been opened under the woman’s business account.
The victim said she has been with AT&T since 2009 and has never had a Verizon account.
The fraudulent activity was between June 1, 2014, and Feb. 15, 2015.
Feb. 23
Monroe Road (theft from building)
A resident on the 10300 block of Monroe Road reported suspicions on Feb. 23 that his housekeeper and her boyfriend had stolen items from his home and pool house over the past six weeks.
His stolen items included four rings, three bottles of prescription pills and $300 cash.
A female who is temporarily staying in his pool house said someone stol3 $300 from her too. Both victims said the housekeeper usually cleans the residences every other weekend and her boyfriend often accompanies her.
The female victim said the last cleaning date for the pool house was Feb. 1 (Super Bowl Sunday).
She counted $1,500 cash in her purse inside her bedroom when the suspects arrived to clean the house. After they left, she counted her cash again and discovered that $300 was missing.
The male victim, a retired law enforcement officer from Missouri, said he confronted both suspects separately and got a confession from the boyfriend about taking the man’s $300 and prescription medicines. The housekeeper did not confess to any theft.
The homeowner told them he would drop the matter if they returned his jewelry by noon Feb. 23. He said the suspects advised they would call him when they were on their way to his home at noon, presumably with the jewelry. Both victims said they want to prosecute the suspects regardless of whether the stolen items are or are not returned.
Feb. 34
Nova Scotia Lane (theft from motor vehicle)
A woman reported on Feb. 24 that someone stole her purse from the front passenger seat of her unlocked Acura RL while the car was parked in her driveway on the 3100 block of Nova Scotia Lane. The theft occurred between 8:30 p.m. and 10:38 p.m. that night. Someone used her Chase Visa card at 9 p.m. at a beer and liquor store.
The responding officer took photos and dusted for fingerprints. There was no suspect information available at the time of the report.
Feb. 25
Nova Scotia Lane (theft of vehicle parts/accessories)
A resident on the 3100 block of Nova Scotia Lane reported that he heard his F150 pickup’s door closing in his driveway between 1:30 and 2:30 a.m. that morning. He looked out the window and saw a dark SUV with a loud exhaust leaving the area.
When he checked his truck later that morning, he noticed the black carpeted speaker box containing a 10-inch subwoofer was missing from the back seat. He said the truck was unlocked, and he noticed no other property missing.
Feb. 26
Monroe Road (motor vehicle theft/other)
A resident on the 10300 block of Monroe Road reported on Feb. 26 that someone had stolen his Kubota RTV utility vehicle. It was parked on the west side of his barn and was stolen between 6 p.m. Feb. 25 and 10 a.m. Feb. 26.
The responding officer took site photos, and tire tracks were visible in the mud. The tracks left the property to the north toward Monroe Road. The Kuboto could not be put on NCIC because the victim did not have the serial number at the time of the report.
Canada Road (unspecified charge)
A woman reported that someone stole her car, a gold 1997 Toyota Corolla, from the Relax Inn (3645 Canada Road) between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Feb. 26. She had loaned it to her son, who was staying at the inn with a female between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. that day.
The female suspect reportedly took the car without the owner’s or the son’s permission and left in an unknown direction. An SCSO dispatcher entered the car into the NCIC database.
Monroe Road (arson)
On Feb. 26, a man found his tractor engulfed in flames near his horse stable on the 10300 block of Monroe Road. He said the Kubota tractor with an attached front loader was parked on the stable’s east side around 6:30 p.m., and he returned around 8:30 p.m. to find a bale of hay blazing in the tractor’s cab. The had had not been in the cab when he left. The Shelby County Fire Department extinguished the fire.
Feb. 27
Salem Road (other theft/non-specific)
A resident on the 6500 block of Salem Road reported on Feb. 27 that someone stole items from his home’s detached patio. The thefts occurred between Feb. 14 and Feb. 27 and included Husqvarna chainsaws ($300 each), Husqvarna blower ($500) and shovel ($40).
U.S. 64 (theft from building)
A woman reported that she left her wallet on the counter when she bought food at Backyard Burger (9000 U.S. 64) around 3:45 p.m. Feb. 27 but realized it was missing before she left the parking lot. She said no other customers were in the store at the time, but the employees present said they did not see or have her wallet. She said that when she announced she was calling law enforcement an employee walked out to a vehicle and then came back inside.
Employees at the scene told the responding officer that the restaurant had a shift change, and personnel who were present at the time of the incident left around 4 p.m. The manager said the business’s security cameras do not work. No additional suspect information was available.
Feb. 28
Woodland Birch Cove (unspecified charge)
A resident on the 10000 block of Woodland Birch Cove reported on Feb. 28 that his ex-girlfriend had taken his car without permission, and he wanted to report it for liability reasons. He said he picked up up at her parents’ home the previous night and returned with her to his home around 10 p.m. to hang out and have drinks. He fell asleep, and when he woke around 1 a.m. his keys (for house and car) and his 2014 maroon Nissan Maxima were missing.
He said she does not have a cell phone and her parents said they have not talked with her. She left her purse at his home. An SCSO dispatcher entered the car’s information into the NCIC database.
