The Bartlett Police Department responded to the following incidents for the period of April 30-May 6, 2018.
Editor’s note: This report represents the most notable incidents provided by BPD and does not necessarily reflect all police activity. 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 BPD reports. Incidents are listed in order of the dates they were reported.
April 30
Seth Cove (fraud/false pretenses/swindle)
A complainant said that a male suspect called him on April 26, claiming to be his grandson and saying he’d been in a car crash. Later, a female suspect called to say his grandson had been jailed because of the crash and needed $4,500 for bond.
The female told the victim to buy three Target gift cards for $1,500 each. The man bought the gift cards and, as instructed, gave the suspect the gift card numbers.
The woman called back and said surgical costs were involved in the case and she needed another $3,500. The victim said he didn’t have it, and the woman said $2,000 would be enough. She also told him not to contact his grandson “due to a gag order,” but the victim eventually contacted him to check on his well-being.
His grandson said he hadn’t been in a crash, and he told his grandfather he was most likely the victim of a scam.
May 1
Countryhill Drive (fraud)
A woman asked to file a fraud report for her 16-year-old daughter. The mother said her daughter recently got a job and sent to open an account at the Regions Bank on Kirby Whitten Road, but a bank staff member said someone else had already opened a bank account using her Social Security number.
The bank manager advised her to file a police report (a necessity before they could assist her in gathering more information).
May 2
U.S. 64 (theft of an auto)
A sales manager at Serra Chevrolet (7850 U.S. 64) reported that a 2018 Chevrolet Malibu was missing from the dealership’s sales lot.
The business last inventoried the vehicle in April, and the sales manager said it was missing as of 11 a.m. May 2.
Thorne Road (theft of mail)
A woman said someone took her mail from her mailbox. The mail stolen was an envelope with her credit card bill and a check payment.
May 3
Altruria Road (auto burglary)
Someone burglarized a woman’s vehicle left unlocked at her home between 9:30 p.m. May 2 and 7 a.m. May 3. She found two doors open and her daughter’s backpack full of school supplies was missing.
Newstone Drive (residential burglary)
A man reported finding another apartment resident’s door kicked in with the door frame broken. At his apartment, he saw that his door was unlocked and his door frame also broken. Several items were missing.
The responding officers saw pry marks on the door, and the shattered door frame looked consistent with a forced entry.
Barrentine Drive (fraud)
A woman who often signs up for sweepstakes said she received a suspicious email claiming she had won second place in the Tennessee Mega Millions sweepstakes. The message said she had won $35.5 million, a 2017 Mercedes Benz, and $5,000 checks every month for the rest of her life.
She also received calls at home from a subject that claimed to work for Mega Millions. He asked to meet her at 8 a.m. May 4 in a WalMart parking lot to get her $12,000 check to pay for the shipping of the Mercedes Benz.
May 4
St. Elmo and Oak Forest Drive (suspicious vehicle complaint)
Someone reported a suspicious vehicle near the intersection of St. Elmo and Oak Forest. A responding officer spotted a vehicle in the driveway of a home on Oak Forrest with the passenger door open. The owner was home and told the officer he didn’t leave the door open, but he did leave the vehicle unlocked.
The victim said he thought nothing was taken from the vehicle, but he was not sure.
Davies Plantation Road (theft complaint)
A woman reported that someone stole her trailer from her driveway between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on May 4. She found the trailer’s lock cut apart and lying on her driveway.
Steeplechase Drive (possible intoxicated party)
An anonymous complainant said a man walking down the sidewalk seemed intoxicated. The responding officers found a male holding a purse. As they drove closer, the saw him trying to hide behind trees in the corner of the yard.
They determined that he stole the purse and its contents from the home of a woman he knows.
May 5
Blue Lagoon Drive (vandalism)
Someone tore a man’s mailbox from its post and flung it into the street, the victim reported. Security footage showed what appeared to be one male suspect traveling on foot shortly after midnight when he damaged the mailbox.
Thornebrook Cove (vandalism)
Someone vandalized another man’s mailbox by ripping off the red metal “outgoing mail” flag, tearing a hole in the mailbox.
Rockbridge Road (vandalism)
A man said someone ripped the metal door off his mailbox overnight.
Newstone Drive (stolen license plate)
A woman discovered that her license plate was missing from her vehicle. She told the responding officer that she last saw it on May 3, and a family member told her on May 5 that it was missing.
Her apartment is directly below two apartment rooms that had break-ins the previous week. She was not sure that the previous incident and her missing license plate are related. She said she was reporting the license plate in the event it is used in any future crimes.
U.S. 64 (attempted auto theft/auto burglary)
The victim said he arrived at the Malco Theater’s parking lot (7930 U.S. 64) around 3:10 and parked in the front row to the left of the front entrance. When he returned around 6:15 p.m. he found that someone had damaged his vehicle.
The front passenger side door lock had been popped out and was missing, and the locking mechanism on the front driver’s side door was broken from the inside. Someone had also popped and damaged the vehicle’s steering wheel column in an apparent theft attempt.
May 6
Bartlett Boulevard (assault)
A man said another male flashed a pistol at him menacingly while he, his fiancée and their children were at Freeman Park (2629 Bartlett Blvd.) just before 6 p.m.
When the victim exited his own vehicle to tell his son it was time to leave, the suspect walked toward him, pulling his shirt up and exposing a black pistol in a holster.
The victim said he believed the man might pull out the pistol and shoot him, so he took the gesture as a threat to his life.
The responding officers talked to the victim and witnesses and also took conflicting statements from the suspect. They concluded that the suspect knowingly displayed a gun in an attempt to make the victim fear for his life. Officers took the suspect into custody and transported him to the Bartlett City Jail.
