The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) handled the following incidents in Arlington during the first half of September 2015. See next week’s issue for the remaining incidents.
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.
Sept. 3
Airline Road (simple assault)
Officers arrived after two black female students escalated an argument into a fight in a hallway at Arlington High School (5475 Airline Road) on Sept. 3. A teacher grabbed one of the participants to stop the fight.
One student received a juvenile summons and was suspended for 180 school days. The other was also issued a juvenile summons and was suspended for five school days. They were released to their parents’ custody.
U.S. 70 (counterfeiting/forgery)
The general manager at Arlington Wine and Liquors (11949 U.S. 70) reported on Sept. 8 that two suspects cashed counterfeit checks for almost $1,700 at his business on Aug. 25. His bank and First Tennessee bank advised him that the checks were written to a non-existent First Tennessee account.
The night manager said the suspects provided state-issued identification, and when he called the business listed on the checks before cashing them, an unknown person confirmed that both suspects worked there and the checks were legitimate. One check was for $853.57, and the other was for $823.76.
The night manager said the suspects went into the liquor store after he cashed the checks, and they bought some unknown items before leaving. He described them as a white male and female, and he said he has cashed checks for the male in the past. A security video showed the duo pull up in a maroon sedan and cash the checks.
When the general manager called the business on Sept. 1, an unknown person hung up on him.
Sept. 9
Oak Landing Drive (simple assault/domestic violence)
An ex-girlfriend’s text to a man prompted his wife to start a fight on Sept. 8, and drama ensued at their home on the 12300 block of Oak Landing Drive, according to the man’s report on Sept. 9.
The wife saw the text message, took his phone into the bedroom closet, started reading texts and took photos with her phone. She said she locked the closet door for safety because she feared her husband, who was banging on the door with his fists.
An examination of the closet showed it did not have a lock, and she told deputies she lied about that but everything else was true. She said she confronted him when he exited the shower.
He said she poked him with a toothbrush in the chest, lower back and back of the head, trying to provoke him to hit her.
She pulled his clothes from the closet and threw them on the floor, and he did the same with hers. The husband said his wife the threw more at him. When he pushed the clothes away, she grabbed his right arm and scratched his right arm and left side of the neck, he said.
The report said that when he put his arm out, she toppled backward, tripped over some shoes and fell back against the corner wall of the closet and to the floor. She had bruises to her right arm and right buttock.
The husband said she concluded by throwing his cell phone at him. Both left for work a little later.
The wife’s story changed several times while she told it to deputies. Neither party needed medical attention, and the wife was taken to 201 Poplar for an interview. A deputy took photos of both parties’ injuries.
Shetland Trail Cove (theft from motor vehicle)
A resident on the 5400 block of Shetland Trail Cove said someone broke into his truck while it was parked in his driveway. The last time he saw it undisturbed was at 10 p.m. Sept. 8, and he found the driver’s window broken at 6:05 a.m. Sept. 9.
He said all of the truck’s windows and doors were locked, his anti-theft system was on, and he did not hear its alarm go off. He had no known suspect information or witnesses, but a neighbor’s security cameras might have recorded footage of the thief.
A crime scene officer processed the scene, and the man said the following items were missing: $10 from his wallet, which was tucked between the front seats, and a black Springfield XD .45-caliber handgun, also taken from between the front seats ($480).
A sheriff’s dispatcher entered the handgun’s information into the National Crime Infor-mation Center (NCIC) database.
U.S. 70 (felony vandalism)
A Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) maintenance supervisor reported on Sept. 9 that someone damaged the perimeter fence ($800) at the District 49 headquarters (12077 U.S. 70).
Someone cut two 5-by-10-foot sections of chain-link fence over the weekend of Sept. 5-6, and he found the damage around 7:30 a.m. Sept. 7. One section was located on the eastern side of the TDPT compound, and the other section was on the south side of the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) vehicle impound and seizure lot, which is contained within the TDOT compound.
A trooper said no vehicles were missing, and it appeared that none had been harmed. The fence was already repaired by the time of the report to the SCSO.
Arlington Trace Drive (misdemeanor vandalism)
Someone damaged an Arlington man’s vehicle overnight, he reported on Sept. 9. He last saw it around 10 p.m. Sept. 8. Around noon the next day, he found his driver’s side window seal was damaged.
The responding officer saw a small pry mark on the driver’s side window seal but no other damage.
Sept. 10
Airline Road (simple assault)
A father reported Sept. 10 that his daughter called him just before 7 a.m. to report that someone struck her in the back of the neck with a rolled-up mud ball at Arlington High School (5475 Airline Road).
The responding officer saw that the victim’s neck was red, but there were no significant injuries.
The assistant principal got the names of the involved students and spoke to them. A witness said a male student took mud from under his truck and threw it at the victim. The suspect said he tried to throw the mud ball at a friend, but it struck the victim instead.
He received a three-day school suspension.
Bragg Drive (theft from building)
Someone stole about $58 in cash from the door and center console of a man’s Dodge Ram pickup truck while he was at work on the 12500 block of Bragg Drive.
He reported the crime on Sept. 10, and his supervisor found a suspect on the property’s surveillance videos: A female worker entered the pickup and then exited, placing something in her rear pocket. The video showed that she then took a power hand tool, a vacuum blower ($200), from the storage building and put it in her vehicle.
Sept. 14
Jackson Street (non-specific other theft)
A man said in a Sept. 14 report that someone stole more than $1,000 in tools and other items from his home office on the 6100 block of Jackson Street.
He suspected his daughter’s boyfriend or ex-boyfriend, who reportedly uses drugs and who he said recently mentioned he had one of the missing items, a nail gun.
The boyfriend had legal access to the home during Sept .1-8, when the items were taken.
The items included a white Optima projector ($700), Porter Cable nail gun ($150), automotive floor jack ($85), red-and-silver Stanton power washer ($300), Milwaukee band saw ($300), Skil circular saw ($60), and a hammer drill of known brand ($125).
Country Valley Drive (false pretenses, swindle, confidence game)
A woman reported an attempted phone scam on Sept 14 at her home on the 12000 block of Country Valley Drive.
She received a voice mail on her home phone on Sept. 10, saying she was in contempt of court and had been charged with failure to appear to the grand jury. The caller identified himself as a lieutenant with the SCSO’s Warrant Division, stated her name and address, and listed a phone number she was to call immediately.
She was out of town and returned the call on Sept. 14, leaving a message. The man called back that afternoon, saying she had signed a mailed summons to appear at the grand jury on Aug. 14 and did not appear on the court date of Aug. 28.
She denied receiving any such paperwork or signing for a summons. The caller persisted, saying the judge found her in contempt of court for failure to appear, and he had assigned her a “special bond condition”: In order for her not to be immediately arrested, she had to stay on the phone with him and go to a Kroger’s to buy a rechargeable card at a cost of $5. She was to scratch off the protective strip on the back of the card and give the caller the number uncovered there, so he could enter the information into a national database to ensure she was meeting her requirements.
He also told her that the number would be brought before the court and — if there had been a mistake — she would get a refunded check for $5 on her next scheduled court date.
While she was talking with the scammer, her husband called the SCSO on another line and was advised it was a scam and to hang up. He related the message to his wife, who got the dire warning from the caller that if the call ended officers would be at their home within 30 minutes to arrest her.
Pingback: SCSO lists Sept. 15-30 incidents in Arlington - Bartlett ExpressBartlett Express