SCSO reports April incidents in Lakeland

 

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) reported the following incidents in the Lakeland area for April 2014.

April 1

Intimidation: Responded at 3:44 a.m. on April 1 to a reported intimidation/domestic violence (DV) incident on the 3500 block of Canada Road. The victim said she and the male suspect began arguing after leaving a nightclub. He accused her of infidelity, and she told him to take her home. He refused and kept driving. She said the suspect told her as they exited onto Canada Road, “If you don’t tell me the truth about this other dude, I’m gonna do something bad to you.”

She feared for her life and jumped out of the car while it was still in motion, running to a gas station on the 3500 block of that road. She said the suspect continued driving southbound on Canada Road.

The responding officer saw a cut on her right big toe and on her right knee, and he called for medical assistance to treat her injuries. A deputy took crime scene photos. The victim completed a “hold harmless” form and asked to be driven home.

Identity theft: Responded at 6:24 p.m. on April 1 to a report of identity theft on the 9500 block of Chi Chi Cove. The victim said his personal information had been used. At 5 p.m. that day, he got a call from a collection agency, saying he owed $1,500 to Comcast Cable. The operator told him that an account in his name was opened at the beginning of January 2013 and closed on April 16, 2013. The account was for an address on the 4500 block of Sawmill Road in Memphis. The victim said he didn’t open the account and is unfamiliar with that address. He also said he doesn’t have a Comcast account and had no suspect information. The collection agency said the matter would be investigated internally and gave him a reference number.

April 2

Simple assault: Responded at 2:30 p.m. on April 2 to a report of simple assault on the 9400 block of Slezenger Lane. The victim said she had moved out that day and returned to get mail and other belongings, but her ex-boyfriend ran from down the street and shoved her. The victim also said there were narcotics in the home’s south bedroom, but officers found none during a search that the ex-boyfriend permitted.

The ex-boyfriend said he saw her outside the house but she ran into him, hitting him against the door to get into the residence. He let her into the house to get the rest of her belongings and her mail. Responding officers saw no physical evidence of the reported encounter.

Vandalism/felony: Responded at 4:19 p.m. on April 2 to a report of felony vandalism that occurred on the 3100 block of Sea Ray Lane while the victim was out of town. Upon his return, he saw a three-foot-long hole, one inch wide, on his outside patio porch screen. It seemed to have been caused by fire. He could not provide any suspect information or motive and said it was the first time his home had been vandalized. He estimated the screen would cost around $2,000. The victim could provide no other information, and the vandalism could not be processed for a crime scene.

April 3

Theft from motor vehicle: Responded at 10:28 a.m. on April 3 to a report of theft from a motor vehicle on the 3100 block of Woodland Pine Drive. The victim said he came home around 5:30 p.m. the previous day because he did not feel well. When he woke the next morning, he went out to his 2007 black Chevy Silverado and noticed that the Leatherman that was supposed to be in the driver’s side door panel was on the floor board of the driver’s side. He immediately checked the center console and the rest of the vehicle and noticed that his Beretta handgun was missing. The victim could not remember if he had locked the vehicle doors the previous day when he was sick. The officer saw no damage to the vehicle, no point of entry and no workable crime scene. The officer told the dispatcher to enter the handgun into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.

April 6

Burglary/residential: Responded at 1:28 a.m. on April 6 to a reported residential burglary on the 9900 block of Dylan Drive. The victim said she left her trailer around 8 a.m. on April 5 and returned around 1 a.m. on April 5 to find that someone had pried open her front door and burglarized her home. Items stolen included a 46-inch Westinghouse TV with remote, $20 in rolled quarters and an unknown quantity of store credit cards. She said she did not know any of the information on the cards and had no statements for the accounts. She said she would call Best Buy to obtain the TV’s serial number. The officer took crime scene photos but could not lift any latent prints at the scene.

April 7

Simple assault: Responded at 2:44 p.m. on April 7 to a report of simple assault on the 9400 block of Slezenger Lane. The female complainant said she was at the house for supervised visits with her daughter, who was just under a year old, when she and the male suspect residing there got into a verbal argument. She said he grabbed her phone and threw it under the couch. They both dove for it, but he got there first. She said he pushed her out the door and put her phone on the front porch, and he pushed her again when she tried to retrieve it. She said she then defended herself, grabbed her phone and called for police.

The man told a different version: He said they were arguing when he went to grab his own phone, knocking hers to the floor, and it slid under the couch. He said when he put her phone on the porch, the woman hit him in the chest and kneed him in the ribs. Then he shut the door and called for police.

A witness was present but said she took the child to the kitchen. She did see the woman hit the man but she didn’t see anything further because she was caring for the child.

Officers could not determine who started the physical fight or see any injuries on either party, and both said they were not injured.

Burglary/non-residential: Responded at 4:55 p.m. on April 7 to a reported burglary/non-residential on the 10000 block of Woodland Grove. A mother said her son arrived home from school around 3 p.m. that day and saw an unknown white man leaving their open garage door. The son said the man was carrying a circular saw and possibly other tools out of the garage. The suspect entered a red Chevrolet Monte Carlo with a broken passenger-side headlight and a partial Tennessee tag of “L53,” and the suspect left. The mother said she had temporarily opened the garage door so her son could enter after arriving home from school.

April 10

Simple assault/DV: Responded at 8:47 p.m. on April 10 to a reported simple assault/DV on the 3800 block of Cutter Cove. The male complainant said he called after his friend told her that her husband had assaulted her. The victim said her husband had been staying at an extended-stay hotel for two weeks, and he had returned home to discuss their relationship. He started yelling and broke a beer bottle on the porch after he saw text messages on her phone about getting a divorce. She said they began pushing each other, but he refused to let her leave. She said one of them had to, so the husband voluntarily left before the responding officer arrived. Their nine-year-old son said he saw his parents yelling and pushing each other, and then he heard his dad say he was going to get a knife. His mother said that previously her husband had threatened to slash her tires. Officers observed no injuries to the victim, and she said she did not want a report and that she did not call the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. She completed a “hold harmless” form.

April 18

Burglary/residential: Responded at 12:09 a.m. on April 18 to a reported residential burglary on the 3100 block of Beowolf Glade Cove. The complainant said she was in the bedroom when she heard a loud noise, and a few minutes later she heard a second loud blow and glass breaking. She woke her husband and told him someone was trying to break in. He looked out the front window and saw a large black sedan backing out of his driveway. Because its lights were on, he could not distinguish how many occupants were in the car or who they were. His wife also said she couldn’t identify the suspect. Officers saw a black tire iron in the grass near the broken window. A crime scene tech took photos but could not lift any fingerprints. The tire iron was taken to the Memphis Police Department’s property room to tag for evidence.

Theft from building: Responded at 6:40 a.m. on April 18 to a reported theft from a building on the 3100 block of Beowolf Glade Cove. The victim said someone tried to burglarize his home after midnight that date. His grandson legally entered the house around 2:30 a.m. The victim awoke around 5:30 a.m. and noticed his 60-inch Vizio flat-screen TV was missing from the den, the front door was standing open and there was no sign of his grandson, who is suspected in the case. The grandson currently has active warrants but was not on the scene. The television was placed on NCIC, and a crime scene technician photographed the scene.

Identify theft: Responded at 12:24 p.m. on April 18 to a report of other theft/non-specific on the 9100 block of Valkrie Cove. The victim said she received an email on March 16, saying her tax return was rejected because her Social Security Number was already being used to file another return. She said she does not know who could have done this, and she has spoken to the IRS and credit bureaus.

April 19

Theft from motor vehicle: Responded at 9:05 a.m. on April 19 to a reported theft from a motor vehicle on the 5200 block of Day Lily Drive. The victim said he went out to his GMC pickup truck around 4:30 a.m. that day and noticed his lock was punched out. He didn’t observe any items missing, and he went hunting. When he returned, he realized that his work-issued Samsun Galaxy S4 was missing. The crime scene tech said there was no workable crime scene because the victim had been through the vehicle.

Aggravated assault/DV: Responded to Saint Francis Hospital on Park Avenue, Memphis, at 9:38 p.m. April 19 regarding a report of aggravated assault/DV. The victim said her boyfriend assaulted her on the 9300 block of Back Nine Drive around 2:30 a.m. that morning. They argued, and she said he pushed her to the floor and choked her while slamming her head into the floor. She said she lost consciousness at times. She reported that he also bit her on her right cheek, the middle left side of her back and on her right shoulder. She had bruises and lacerations to the neck, face, back and legs. She said he took her phone and drove off in her vehicle after the assault, and she locked herself in the bathroom. When he returned, he fell asleep on the apartment’s couch. She later left the scene (time unknown) and arrived at the hospital around 8:30 p.m. Medical professionals X-rayed her and found that she had bleeding on the brain. Detectives went to the scene and took crime scene photos.

April 20

Burglary/residential: Responded at 11:50 a.m. on April 20 to a report of a possible burglary/residential in progress on the 9300 block of Back Nine Drive. Deputies found the front door open but no one was home. It appeared to have been ransacked, and doors and drawers were all open. They found a man’s business card on the living room floor and ran it, trying to get in touch with the homeowner. During the research, they determined that the man had aggravated assault warrants for domestic violence the previous evening (see the preceding incident summary). As deputies were outside, the man’s mother pulled up, saying she had her son and he wanted to turn himself in.

Regarding the burglary report, the suspect said he left the residence intact around 3 p.m. April 19 and returned around 8 p.m. to find it ransacked and his Xbox ($399) and clothing ($1,500) missing.  He did not have serial numbers for any of the property reported stolen. He was transported to Shelby County Jail on verified aggravated assault charges.

April 21

Vandalism/misdemeanor: Responded at 1:53 a.m. on April 21 to a report of vandalism/misdemeanor on the 3500 block of Canada Road. The victim said a security company told him someone used a metal pole to break out the side door at the Factory Outlet Mall, causing an estimated $200 in damage. A search determined that no property was taken and there was no other damage. The victim secured the door.

Burglary/residential: Responded at 12:36 p.m. on April 21 to a reported burglary/residential on the 2900 block of Woodland Elm Cove. The victim said someone broke a rear window at his home. He said the incident began when he heard someone beating on his front door at 12:25 p.m., so he looked through the peephole. The visitor peeped back at him. The victim said the suspect was calling out “Buster, Buster,” as if he were calling someone. Then the suspect looked in every window on the west side of the house all the way around to the back yard. The victim said the suspect hit the window on the southeast corner of the house three times and then reached in and pushed the blinds. Then the suspect removed his hand from the blinds and was not seen or heard leaving the back yard.

Responding officers searched the yard and surrounding area, and they found the suspect in an open field behind houses northwest of the victim’s home. The suspect said he was looking for his dog. The reporting officer said he repeatedly asked the suspect if he were on any drugs, so the man could get any necessary medical treatment, but he kept saying no. Officers drove the suspect to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office General Information Bureau (SCSO-GIB). In the victim’s back yard, the officers found a black metal pipe that appeared to have been used to break the window (it had glass fragments on it). One officer took crime scene photos and prints, and he was able to lift fingerprints from the pipe. The pipe was tagged in the MPD property room.

Other theft/non-specific: Responded at 4:10 p.m. on April 21 to a report of other theft/non-specific at Gateway Tire Center, 9750 U.S. 64. The general manager said that at 9:58 p.m. April 19 two unknown black male suspects entered an enclosed storage yard attached to the business and stole several items. The general manage had the store’s video camera system ready for the officer to view the recorded incident.

The video showed a silver mid-1990s Chevrolet Tahoe parking in the alley behind the center. The camera angle obscured the vehicle’s license plate. The two suspects removed several items from the storage yard, but the items could not be identified because of the camera’s angle. The suspects left at 10:03 p.m. The storage yard included used tires, rims and other discarded automotive items, and the general manager did not have an exact count. Multiple employees had entered the yard since the theft, so the crime scene was considered contaminated for any evidence left behind by the suspects.

The general manager said he originally detected the theft and reviewed the security tapes on April 21 when he noticed that several items placed in the yard the previous week were missing. He said he thinks the suspects stole four used aluminum rims ($200) and four used tires (approximately $200).

One suspect was heavyset and wore a white shirt and black pants. The second suspect was thin and wore a gray shirt and black pants. No other information was available on the suspects’ identities, and no other witnesses were available.

April 23

Theft from motor vehicle: Responded at 2:05 p.m. on April 23 to a reported theft from a motor vehicle on the 9800 block of Woodland Bend Drive. The victim said he left two sets of car keys on the driver’s seat of his unlocked Mazda CX5, parked in his driveway. Between noon and approximately 3 p.m. April 21, he noticed that the glove box was open, the contents were rifled and both sets of keys were missing. An SCSO detective told the victim that a possible suspect has been arrested.

April 24

Simple assault/DV: Responded at 8:38 p.m. April 24 to a reported simple assault/DV on the 9500 block of Chi Chi Cove. The victim said around 7:30 p.m., her husband began looking through her cell phone, and the couple argued. She said the fight turned physical when he grabbed her by the neck and pushed her to the ground, then ran outside with her phone. She ran after him but said he then kicked her in the stomach and she fell to the ground. He left before deputies arrived. The officers observed small abrasions to her left elbow, but she refused medical attention. She completed a “hold harmless” form.

April 25

Theft from building: Responded at 6:03 p.m. on April 25 to a reported theft from the ATV Parts Depot showroom, 9875 Huff N Puff. The manager said someone walked in and examined a Kimpex helmet for about 30 minutes before putting it on around 5:20 p.m., walking out the side door, mounting a motorcycle and leaving the scene westbound on Huff N Puff. The suspect hit loose gravel and crashed, but he got back on the motorcycle and continued westbound. The motorcycle was a late 1970 to early 1980 model black bike displaying a Tennessee tag.

April 28

Stolen property: Responded at 2:40 p.m. on April 28 regarding a stolen property complaint on the 2900 block of Woodland Ash Cove. The officers arrived to conduct a “knock and talk” because of neighbors’ multiple complaints of suspicious activity. The suspect at the home gave written consent to search his room. He said there was probably a narcotics pipe in his room but no drugs. The search uncovered two pill bottles in a bag under the bed. Both bottles were prescribed to other people, and the suspect said he didn’t know either. One bottle contained multiple naproxen pills, and the second contained multiple doxycycline hyclate pills.

An officer asked the suspect, who was not detained or in custody at the time, where he got the bottles. The suspect said, “I used to break into cars, and they probably came from that.” An officer then identified an April 21 vehicle burglary report by the victims whose names were on the prescription bottles. The victims said the bottles were in the glove compartment of a Ford Focus that had been towed after a crash and that had been burglarized at the towing lot.

During the room search, the officers also found two pipes with marijuana residue on them and a 20-ounce plastic bottle used to ingest narcotics; the bottle had residue on it and was topped with aluminum foil. All evidence and the consent to search form were tagged into the MPD property room. An officer drove the suspect to the Shelby County Jail on stolen property charges.

Simple assault: Responded at 7:44 p.m. on April 28 to a report of simple assault at Kingsridge Drive and Canada Road. The complainant said someone punched her on the back of his head at 4:30 p.m. that day after his school bus driver dropped him off. The suspect lives in a neighboring home and attends the same elementary school as the victim. A witness said she saw the boys arguing but that they didn’t have a physical fight. The suspect’s mother said she also saw the argument and there was no physical fight.

The victim’s mom said her son had a small bruise on the back of his head, although the responding officer did not see any abrasion. She said the boys have a long history of not getting along and she wanted it to stop.  She also said the witness and the suspect’s mother are related, and she does not believe their statements. The victim’s mother said she planned to speak with school officials about the issue.

Theft from building: Responded at 8:51 p.m. on April 28 to a reported theft from a building on the 3300 block of Weber Drive. The victim said his stepdaughter, who has lived with him for the past two years, was the suspect. Her mother died in April 2013. He tried to report the girl missing when she didn’t come home that night, and he found out she had checked herself into Lakeside. He began checking the home for items that might have been stolen between Feb. 1 and that date.

He discovered his late wife’s jewelry of silver and precious stones (estimated value $10,000) was missing. He also noticed some paperwork was missing for 10 cemetery plots (each valued at $1,000), but it was later found in the office’s bookcase. The victim said the suspect also had substituted caffeine pills for his 40 hydrocodone pills (7.5 – 200 mg), from a prescription filled on Jan. 27. The victim said he only took one of the pills himself, and he suspects the girl struggles with a narcotics addition, primarily pain pills, including hydrocodone and Percocet. There was no workable crime scene.

April 29

Intimidation: Responded at 4:44 p.m. on April 29 to a report of intimidation at the Backyard Burger restaurant at 9000 U.S. 64. A shift manager said she and an employee argued when she tried to send him home to reduce the shift’s personnel hours, and the employee called his cousin to bring some “choppers” to the restaurant to teach her a lesson. She said he also told her it would be worse if she called the police. She feared for her safety.

The suspect denied making any threats and said she was just mad because he wouldn’t leave. The general manager backed up the suspect’s story, labeled the shift manager as a “drama queen” and said she hadn’t reported to him about any threats. Another employee said she heard the argument but did not hear any of the alleged threats against the shift manager.

April 30

Wire fraud: Responded at 7:25 p.m. on April 30 to a report of wire fraud on the 10200 block of Woodland Hills. The victim said she got a collection email from ACS Inc. around 2 p.m. that day, saying she owed $955.75 and would be sued for $4,252.86 if she didn’t arrange payment.  When she called, she was told she owed $922, but the company would accept a reduced payment of $300 if she paid immediately. The individual knew her Social Security number and date of birth. She refused to pay and asked for more information. The individual disconnected the call and didn’t answer two follow-up calls. When the victim tried calling from a different phone, a second individual answered. The victim was told the company’s address in Rochester, N.Y., but she searched online and discovered that a different business was at that address.

She then contacted a check advance company, which said they are not affiliated with ACS Inc. and that she was the third person to call them about such an incident that day.