The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office handled the following incidents in Arlington in early November. For later November 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.
Nov. 1
McAuley Street (misdemeanor vandalism)
Someone damaged a truck parked on the street on the 11700 block of McAuley, the victim reported on Nov. 1. He discovered damage to the driver’s side front door of his Chevrolet Silverado around 9:30 a.m. and said it must have happened sometime since 8 p.m. the previous night.
U.S. 70 (misdemeanor shoplifting)
An employee at the Quick Market (11933 U.S. 70) couldn’t stop a determined beer thief on Nov. 1. He said a white male suspect about 5 foot 9 inches tall, around age 29-30, asked for a beer 24-pack. When told the store only had 18-packs, the suspect removed two of them from the beer cooler and walked toward the exit.
The employee said he tried and failed to hold the door and keep the suspect from leaving. So he captured the make and model of the suspect’s vehicle and its license plate information. The store’s surveillance cameras were not working at the time of the incident.
Nov. 2
Arlin Drive (intimidation)
A resident arriving at his home on the 5400 block of Arlin Drive around 11:30 a.m. Nov. 2 said a neighbor began cursing at him and making rude hand gestures. When the victim asked about the harassment, he said the angry neighbor got out of his vehicle, charged toward the victim’s property, stood cursing at the edge of his driveway and said, “I’ll put a bullet in your a__.” The victim gathered his groceries and went inside his home.
The victim believes the ongoing harassment stems from an incident that happened about three years ago when a neighbor called the SCSO because the angry neighbor (who is known to carry a firearm at all times) was wearing a firearm on his hip as he did yard work.
The victim said the man’s actions and aggressive attitude put him in fear for his and his family’s safety. He said, however, that the neighbor didn’t produce a weapon during this altercation.
U.S. 70 (simple assault)
The female manager of McDonald’s (11590 U.S. 70) asked a male customer to leave around 12:50 p.m. Nov. 2 because of his history of soliciting on the property. As she escorted him from the building, he became verbally aggressive and then punched her in the left eye, she said.
She fell back into the door and tried to defend herself as he continued hitting. A male employee said he saw his manager being struck by the much larger suspect so he ran to help. The two men fought until four Hispanic males intervened and stopped the fight. A female witness called 911 when she saw the manager being hit in the face and body several times.
The responding deputy saw that the manager had a bruised left eye, and the male employee who helped her had several scratches and minor bruises on his face, hands and arm. The wounded manager said McDonald’s does have video surveillance of the incident.
The suspect’s mother said her son has refused to take his medication for mental health issues for several days and that he can become physically violent and dangerous to himself and others when he isn’t medicated. She said when she tried to take him to get mental help, he runs away and panhandles throughout the Arlington area.
Because the assault didn’t happen in the presence of the deputy, the suspect wasn’t taken to jail. Instead, he was transported to Lakeside Behavioral Health System for a mental evaluation.
Airline Road (simple assault)
A complainant at Sonic (6106 Airline Road) said he called 911 shortly after 7 p.m. Nov. 2 when he saw one of his employees getting assaulted by another employee’s father.
The man said he had just stepped out to the rear of the business to smoke when he saw the attack.
The victim explained that he took a break around 7:05 p.m. and borrowed a co-worker’s car to run an errand. When he returned, he parked in the rear of the parking lot. Before he could exit the vehicle, the co-worker’s father (who he hadn’t met or seen previously) approached, began yelling at him about taking the car without his permission and directed several racial slurs at him.
He said he tried to exit the car when the suspect told him to do so, but the suspect shut the door, reached through the open window and slapped the victim’s face before grabbing him and trying to pull him out through the window.
The two struggled briefly before the complainant ran over and stopped the suspect. The victim said he then got out of the car, and the suspect moved it to the adjacent Arlington Towne Car Wash. The victim said the suspect left in a black pickup before deputies arrived.
The victim wasn’t injured and declined medical attention. The complainant said that Sonic’s surveillance cameras do not reach to the parking lot.
Nov. 3
U.S. 70 (theft from building)
A building owner on the 11000 block of U.S. 70 reported on Nov. 3 that he saw two store tenants removing property from their rental address around 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 5. He also said they are in a court battle regarding the building and items that belong in the building.
Nov. 4
Warren Ridge (theft from motor vehicle)
The owner of a 2014 black Ram 1500 reported on Nov. 4 that someone broke into his pickup overnight. The only item taken was his Smith & Wesson SVE40 .40-caliber handgun, which has a silver slide on a black frame. It was stored in the driver’s side door.
The owner couldn’t provide a serial number at the time of the report. He last saw his handgun around 4:30 p.m. Nov. 4 in the truck.
The responding deputy saw no latent prints or damage to the vehicle or its interior, leading to the observation that entry was likely made through an unlocked door. The incident happened on the 12400 block of Warren Ridge.
Arlin Drive (felony vandalism)
A man reported on Nov. 4 that someone had apparently shot two of the family’s vehicles with a pellet gun. His wife discovered the damage to their Toyota Tacoma and Chevrolet Equinox when she went outside to leave for work.
The victim named a neighbor he believes is responsible, someone who’s been the subject of several reports for earlier incidents.
A crime scene tech took photos of the damaged vehicles.
Bonsai Bend (theft from motor vehicle)
A man who left his truck unlocked overnight found that someone had stolen his pistol the next morning. He reported the theft on Nov. 4.
The victim said he parked his Ford F-250 in his driveway on the 12500 block of Bonsai Bend around 5:30 p.m. Nov. 3 and discovered around 7:30 a.m. the next morning that his Glock handgun was missing from the center console and other items had been moved around. He said he was in a hurry to get to work and didn’t have time to file a report until later.
A dispatcher entered the gun’s information into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. There were no latent prints available at the scene.
