The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office handled the following incidents in Arlington during the first half of October. For later October incidents, see next week’s issue of The Bartlett Express.
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.
Oct. 1
Airline Road (theft from motor vehicle)
A mother reported Oct. 1 that someone stole her son’s Patagonia backpack (contents unspecified) from their Ford Explorer while it was parked behind 5780 Airline Road, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. that day. He doesn’t recall whether he locked the SUV.
5475 Airline Road (misdemeanor drugs/narcotics violation)
An anonymous tip, the student’s confession and his consent to search led to discovery of marijuana in a student’s SUV at Arlington High School. The search turned up a baggie of what later tested positive as 5.5 grams of marijuana, along with two glass bongs, a blue marijuana grinder and a small joint in a cigarette box.
The student received a 180-day school suspension and a juvenile summons for simple possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
Oct. 4
Berry Patch Lane (theft from building)
A woman accused two cleaning ladies of stealing $9 and a bottle of Oxycodone from her purse while they were at her house on Oct. 4. They denied the theft. Their manager arrived before deputies did and searched both women and their equipment. The victim said she wanted to be done with the situation before her husband returned home from work, so she fired the cleaning company.
Gulfstream (embezzlement)
The general manager of Maines Paper/Food said on Oct. 4 that an employee has been using the corporate gas card for unauthorized purchases for two months. Records showed 31 miscellaneous transactions totaling $330.41 from Aug. 11 through Sept. 29.
The suspect said he didn’t know the card was limited to just gasoline. He agreed to pay the money back out of his last paycheck.
Oct. 5
Memphis Arlington Road (felony vandalism)
A woman with past neighbor problems filed an Oct. 5 report of costly vandalism.
She said she came home around 5 p.m. Oct. 4 to find her back gate open and the gate latches slung into nearby bushes.
Later, she noticed her pool’s water level had dropped several inches, and she found a small hole about the size of a BB on one side of the pool. Estimated damage was around $1,200 for new materials and $1,800 for repairs.
She suspects a neighbor entered illegally and did the damage. She said in the past he has dumped lawn clippings and trash by using his gate that opens into her back yard. Just a few days before the pool damage, she placed “No Trespassing” signs in front of the gate and installed a stake to prevent him from accessing her yard. Those signs were turned backward toward her house, and the stake was missing.
Oct. 7
Hayes Road (identity theft)
Citibank advised a man on Sept. 26 of an account that was opened using his Social Security number, but he said he didn’t open the account. He reported the incident on Oct. 7. The victim had no suspect information and said he hasn’t had any identity documents stolen.
Oct. 8
Scarlet Ridge Drive (simple assault/domestic violence)
A domestic scene turned ugly when a wife hid the truck keys from her drunk husband on Oct. 8, and he reportedly began pushing her and threatening to incapacitate her car. When officers arrived, he was in the garage under the hood of her car. He stopped tinkering as ordered.
His wife said they were on the patio and he was yelling when he pushed her down twice, twisted her purse away from her and threw it, spewing the contents into the yard. A witness helped her pick up the items, and then the wife went inside the home.
She said he was still demanding his keys and threatening to drain the oil out of her car. Then he yelled at his daughter to get his tools so he could remove the car’s battery. His wife got between the two of them, she said, and the husband pushed her against the wall, got his tools himself and went into the garage. That’s when she locked the garage door and waited for the SCSO officers to arrive.
She had bruises on one arm and a cut on one finger. The witness and the daughter both said they saw the man push his wife around. Officers arrested the husband.
Oct. 10
Douglass Street (arson)
Maintenance staff found $1,350 in fire damage in the women’s restroom at Arlington Elementary School on Oct. 10. The maintenance spokesman noted that the Arlington High School lacrosse team used the restroom at practice time, noon-3 p.m. Oct. 9.
Damages included a sink ($150), toilet ($150), light fixture ($150), American hand dryer ($500), soap dispenser ($50), toilet roll dispenser ($200), Airoma air freshener ($50) and bathroom exhaust fan ($100).
Oct. 11
Milton Wilson Boulevard/Airline Road (misdemeanor drugs/narcotics violation)
Officers responding to a one-vehicle hit-and-run crash on Milton Wilson Boulevard around 4 p.m. Oct. 11 detained a confused suspect when they arrived. An off-duty officer called in when he saw the man walking westward away from his wrecked vehicle.
Evidence showed that he’d been driving east in the westbound lane, struck the curb median, veered back into the road and hit the median again. He left the vehicle running and left on foot without calling to report the crash.
The arresting officer found that the man had slurred/sluggish speech and watery eyes and seemed confused. In one pocket, the man had a small blue bag with a white powdery substance and a wrapper with four cut-up pieces of what appeared to be Xanax. There was a small marijuana blunt in plain view on the driver’s seat of the vehicle. The man performed poorly on a standard field sobriety test and was taken to an SCSO office for a blood draw. He received traffic and narcotics charges.
The marijuana had a tare weight of 0.2 gram. The powder didn’t test positive for cocaine and was tagged as unknown. The Xanax totaled 1.5 pills (0.366 total gram weight).
The man’s driver’s license was also suspended as of May 18 for “Non-ACD withdrawal.”
Doctor Logan (simple assault/domestic violence)
A woman reported two incidents of her boyfriend manhandling and threatening her on Oct. 11.
She said he grabbed her neck at a friend’s house while arguing about his car being out of gas, but there were no witnesses. Later at their house, the argument continued. She said he grabbed her forearms and wouldn’t let go. Her son heard her yelling, went to her and saw the boyfriend grabbing her arms. Then she broke free. She said he threatened to have someone shoot her and has assaulted her numerous times in the past.
Deputies had recently responded to a domestic violence call for the couple in which the suspect left before their arrival. In this incident, the man said he argued but refused to give any information about physical contact. The deputies didn’t see any marks or bruising on the woman.
Based on witness accounts and history, deputies determined the man was the primary aggressor and took him to 201 Popular.
Oct. 12
Dusty Field Road (simple assault/domestic violence)
A husband wasn’t on the scene by the time officers arrived at 2:33 a.m. Oct. 12, but his wife told a harrowing story. She said he threatened to take custody of their daughter, so she went to the attic where he keeps his marijuana stash so she could turn him in to the police.
He locked her in the attic with him, pushed her into a stair banister in the attic, and vandalized two of her family heirlooms, a framed coin collection and a Ferris wheel, she said.
She exited the attic but said he trapped her in a downstairs guest bedroom, held her down by her arms, covered her mouth with his hands and held a blanket over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. When she escaped there, he held her in the guest bathroom and then in the mast bedroom before she could get to her phone to call police, she said.
The responding officers saw possible early bruising/swelling to her upper arms, left leg and face. They didn’t find a marijuana stash but did take photos of some possible broken glass pipe pieces.
Chester Street (aggravated assault/domestic violence)
A couple’s argument over hurt feelings escalated into a knife fight before officers arrived on Oct. 12.
The husband said his wife had been upset all day because he didn’t seem concerned about her bad medical diagnosis. They argued at one apartment complex and then she followed him to another residence to continue the argument.
He described the scene: She arrived angry and shouting, and she snatched his phone and locked it in her car. Then she kicked the residence’s door in and followed him inside, refusing to return his phone. During a struggle that he eventually won to get the car keys, he scratched her arms. Then she pulled a knife from the kitchen and brandished it at him, swearing and telling him to return her keys. He grabbed her arm, trying to disarm her. He said that’s when she used the knife to cut her own arm and tell him, “You are going to jail.”
The couple’s toddler children, however, saw the confrontation and said their mother had cut her own arm.
The man got in her car and was trying to leave the scene when officers arrived.
The woman’s story was similar. She admitted to pulling the knife on her husband and said she held the knife in a “Chucky-like” manner. Officers determined she was the primary aggressor. An emergency medical vehicle and Arlington Fire Department vehicle made the scene, cleaned up the cut on the woman’s arm and examined the victim.
Oct. 14
Willow Walk Way (forcible rape)
Officers responded on Oct. 14 to a forcible rape report. The incident happened between Sept. 25 and Oct. 14. Case details are not available.
Delana Drive (identity theft)
A woman reported identity theft on Oct. 14 when contacted by a collection agency over bad checks she says she didn’t write.
Absolute Recovery Services advised her that someone cashed checks totaling $675.25 on April 2 and April 8 at 2903 S. Perkins Road. She told them she never cashed such checks and uses a different bank. The collection letter refers to an account with ZMART Perkins, but the woman said she has no such account and hasn’t given anyone permission to open one in her name.
She also said no money has been taken from her personal account, and she doesn’t have any missing personal checks.
Arlin Drive (misdemeanor vandalism)
Someone damaged a man’s truck tailgate, possibly with a small caliber weapon, he reported on Oct. 15.
He said he parked the truck in his driveway around 6 p.m. Oct. 14 and saw the damage at 12:25 p.m. Oct. 15. He didn’t witness the damage occurring but said he suspects his across-the-street neighbor, who has been very aggressive toward him and other neighbors in the past.
The responding deputies saw a quarter-size dent in the tailgate and damage to the surrounding paint. They also saw what appears to be a pellet fragment on the ground nearby.
