Editor’s note: See Part 1 of the May crime report for Arlington also in this edition of The Bartlett Express.
An officer of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) gave an overview of recent crimes in the Arlington area at the June 1 town board meeting.
Lt. Terry Lomax of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) said that eight of May’s 28 incidents in Arlington were thefts with entry through unlocked or open doors or windows.
“Lock your stuff, folks — this is Arlington, it’s not Shangri-La,” Lomax said. “… There are thieves everywhere, and most of this stuff is crimes of opportunity.”
Bank robber’s bad luck
Lomax also updated the board with the back story on a recent would-be Rosemark bank robber who made a string of mistakes.
The suspect reportedly robbed a bank in Missouri, returned to his home turf in the Memphis area, and a week later was relaxing at a Tunica, Miss., blackjack table. Right across the table from him was the mayor of the Missouri town where he had recently robbed a bank.
The mayor recognized him, too, and alerted casino personnel. They could not arrest him on the premises, and he eluded the Tunica County officers who arrived. They did locate his hotel room, however.
Lomax said his department was on the lookout for the suspect when he popped up again. The man reportedly carjacked a vehicle near 240 at Jackson in Memphis: He found a car with a key in the ignition, threw out the six-year-old girl waiting for her mother to come out of the store, and raced off in the vehicle, Lomax said.
Unfortunately for the carjacker, the vehicle was one being sold by a “float the note” car lot that puts trackers on their vehicles so they can locate them quickly if someone misses a payment.
“It was being tracked and relayed to us, and he didn’t know that,” Lomax said.
Then the suspect rolled into the parking lot of his target, Patriot Bank, but it was about 10 minutes after 5 p.m., so he found a locked door.
The SCSO knew what the suspect was likely trying to do, so they alerted all law enforcement in the area.
When the call went out to locate the suspect, an SCSO officer who was going home sick happened to be at a nearby substation. She hopped in her truck, spotted the man and captured him on the lot of Triumph Bank on U.S. 70.
The suspect arrested was Bobby “Trey” Yates of Arlington. He was wanted on two outstanding burglary warrants in Arlington when he was arrested, as well, Lomaxsaid.
Trailer watch
The Mid-South is currently harboring a very busy trailer thief.
Lomax said there is a male driving a white Navigator with expensive tires and rims, and he is stealing trailers and lawn equipment in the areas of Arlington, Bartlett, Lakeland, Rosemark and Millington.
Officers have not been able to determine the suspect’s race, but he often takes property very late at night or early in the morning, he said.
Lomax asked all citizens to call the SCSO immediately if they see a white Navigator pulling a trailer anywhere late at night. Provide the direction of travel, what road he’s on and the Navi-gator’s tag number, he said — but don’t try to be a hero.
Profiling burglars
Lomax also clarified some community misconceptions about a recent crime report, saying he was talking about the whole county, not one municipality.
He had noticed that homes on the market for 30 days or more or ones that were in foreclosure were often targets for burglars seeking appliances, copper pipes, air conditioning units and more.
After seeing seven or eight such burglaries in a month, he identified the trend and tasked his officers with finding such target homes and watching them closely. They identified about 400 in Shelby County, Lomax said.
They made about nine arrests, mostly juveniles, from this project, he said.
“If you’re trying to sell a house for $200,000, and somebody’s going in there, knocking holes in every wall, breaking the sinks, breaking the tubs, breaking the toilets, with water damage … yeah, that’s coming out of your pocket. So we’re trying to be very proactive,” he said.
He told the Arlington board there weren’t many such homes nearby, but his officers were watching.
