Bartlett police are investigating two big thefts and vandalism at Brewer’s Pool and Landscaping around 12:40 p.m. March 19. The suspects cost the owner an estimated $32,100 in loss and damages, according to the police report.
Watch the surveillance video
[youtube width=”600″ height=”486″]https://youtu.be/1abLciderqU[/youtube]The first two responding officers found damage to the back wooden fence and evidence that a trailer had been stolen from the back lot of the business, located at 6620 U.S. 70, Bartlett. Owner Brian Brewer confirmed the theft of a black 14-foot single-axle trailer and a 2016 Polaris Ranger Crew side-by-side utility vehicle.
Surveillance video showed a red Ford F-250 with yellow doors pull onto the lot and behind the building around 12:33 p.m. About four minutes later the vehicle pulled behind the building and smashed through the fence and two crepe myrtles. The driver went directly to where the trailer and Ranger were stored.
One suspect who appeared to be a black male walked through the fence opening. Officers believe he exited the vehicle while it was parked briefly behind the business, hidden from view by a large tree. He and his partner in crime cut the lock off the trailer’s tongue, hooked up the trailer to the truck and drove through another section of fence to leave. They fled westbound on U.S. 70 around 12:39 p.m. As they left, a big black dog came strolling slowly out of the shed, not visibly alarmed by the intruders.
The police also watched surveillance video that showed a small white four-door sedan that looked like a 2000-2003 Nissan Sentra also suspected in the incident. The car drove in front of the F250, stopped in front of the business and left eastbound on U.S. 70 when the truck entered the lot. What appeared to be the same car did a westbound drive-by at 12:34 p.m. and another eastbound pass at 12:35 p.m.
A clerk at the Circle K gas station at Kirby Whitten and U.S. 70 said she remembered a car matching that description pull onto the lot, sit for a minute and then leave. No one from the gas station was available at the time of the report to review the survillance video of the burglary.
One of the responding officers lifted a latent fingerprint from the cut trailer lock. While they were still on scene, a contact at the Memphis Police Department notified BPD of a vehicle theft report at 2564 Covington Pike for a Ford F-250 truck.
Along with damaging the fence and crepe myrtles at Brewer’s, the truck also broke a water line and severed electrical wires. Losses to the business included fence ($5,000), crepe myrtles ($2,000), water line ($800), electrical wires ($500), trailer ($1,800) and Ranger ($22,000).
The trailer’s vehicle identification number (VIN) is 4PRBU1411FT000199. The Ranger’s VIN is 4XARVE871GB338357. Information on both items was entered into the National Crime Information Center’s database.
Written by Carolyn Bahm, Express editor. Contact her at (901) 433-9138, carolyn.bahm@journalinc.com or bartlett.editor@journalinc.com.
