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.
Nov. 5
Lubiani Valley (simple assault/domestic violence)
A woman reported on Nov. 5 that her husband grabbed her arm and threw her to the floor earlier that morning during an argument.
She said he was upset because she went to a friend’s house to hang out, and the two argued until he assaulted her for trying to go into another room to avoid more fighting. She wasn’t injured or bruised, but she said she feared for her safety because he is getting more and more violent toward her. He left when she told him she was contacting law enforcement.
The responding officer didn’t see any obvious sign of injury to the woman’s arm. She said her husband has harmed her many times in the past, but she has not opted to involve law enforcement until this incident. She declined safe transport to another location.
Nov. 7
Doctor Logan Cove (motor vehicle theft of a passenger vehicle)
A man’s Ford F-150 was missing when he walked outside at 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 7. He said there was glass from one of his windows on the ground, and the responding officer saw the broken glass in the driveway.
The victim said he didn’t hear any disturbance overnight. A dispatcher listed the vehicle’s information on NCIC. The incident happened on the 11800 block of Doctor Logan Cove.
Mahogany Ridge Drive (other larceny/access device)
An identity protection system alerted a woman that someone was using her information to open lines of credit twice so far this year.
The woman, a resident on the 5300 block of Mahogany Ridge Drive, said Life Lock alerted her in July that someone opened a Visa card in her name, had it delivered to an address in Georgia and charged $100 before she could cancel the account. She reported on Nov. 7 that she got another Life Lock alert on Nov. 4, this time saying that someone opened a Citibank Visa card in her name, using her address and Social Security number. She cancelled it before any charges were made.
She suspects that someone ordered this card, had it sent to her address and removed it from her mailbox.
Goat Drive (simple assault/domestic violence)
An incident happened on the 11100 block of Goat Drive sometime between 7 p.m. Nov. 6 and about 5:40 p.m. Nov. 7. Further details are not currently publicly available.
Nov. 8
U.S. 70 (embezzlement)
A store manager at Fred’s (11888 U.S. 70) reported a case of suspected embezzlement on Nov. 8. She said the employees’ count-out of the cash registers kept being incorrect around closing time on Nov. 3, so she watched the in-store monitors of the cash registers for more information. Onscreen, she saw a male employee leave the register and return, placing something next to the register before he scanned it and put it in his pocket.
When he returned to work on Nov. 8, a corporate loss prevention officer suspended him, pending further investigation.
The responding SCSO officer watched the video and witnessed the suspect commit the act.
Airline Road (simple assault)
An enraged student made a scene and assaulted an administrator and another student at Arlington High School on Nov. 8.
An assistant principal said the student first asked to file a bullying report because other students were telling his girlfriend he was cheating on her. When told it wasn’t a bullying matter, the student bowed his arms up, slammed the office door and left toward the gym for his class.
The assistant principal said when he caught up with the student he saw another administrator trying to hold the student back and separate him from other teens. When the angry student saw the assistant principal approaching, he got loud, cursed and said, “I’m going to kick your f______ a___.” He then reached around and struck the adult holding him in the right shoulder and neck.
The assistant principal also noticed that a female student was holding the left side of her face. She said the male student had threatened to have her expelled from school, so when he returned from the office, she asked if he had done that. He got angry and told her, “Keep talking s___.” Then he kneed her in the face.
The male student said he got upset when the assistant principal questioned him and made statements, and he admitted hitting the other administrator and kneeing the fellow student. He received a misdemeanor citation for two counts of simple assault.
His mother picked him up, and he was suspended for 180 school days. The administrator he hit refused to press charges.
Airline Road (theft from building)
One student had $75 stolen from his backpack, and a school official interviewed several students who saw a suspect with cash, making money exchanges with other students.
The official interviewed the suspect, but he denied stealing any money and said he didn’t have any money on him. A check of his backpack revealed $130 stashed in a secret place. The responding officers didn’t issue a juvenile summons.
Nov. 9
Airline Road (theft from building)
A father reported on Nov. 9 that someone stole his son’s cell phone from the Arlington High School wrestling locker room, where the teen left it during a workout. The report noted that officers will check to see if there is a video camera in that area.
Brooks River Drive (identity theft)
A man reported on Nov. 9 that his bank, Regions, gave him terrible news about fraudulent charges. Someone using his bank account information had racked up a total of $6,000 on JCPenney.com.
He said he didn’t make the charges, hasn’t had any personal identity documents stolen and doesn’t have any suspect information.
Airline Road (theft from building)
A student who left her purse briefly out of her line of sight was the victim of theft at Arlington High School, she reported on Nov. 9.
She went to the restroom beside study hall and placed her purse on the ledge outside the stalls. When she came out, she saw that her purse was open and her wallet was missing.
A witness named a female white student seen going to that restroom around that time. When that student returned, she was reportedly freaking out and claiming to have lost her wallet in the same restroom.
The witness said the second victim acted suspicious when the first victim tried to talk to her privately. Reportedly, the second victim grabbed something out of her backpack and put it in her pants, and another student then found the first victim’s wallet over by the door where the second victim went.
An assistant principal interviewed the suspect, who denied she had the first victim’s money. A check of her backpack and purse didn’t turn up anything noteworthy.
Nov. 10
Knob Creek Trail (simple assault/domestic violence)
A couple in the throes of a divorce made a scene at the home of their son’s friend the evening of Nov. 10.
The father said he arrived around 10 p.m. to pick up their son. His soon-to-be ex-wife is friends with the homeowner. When the father arrived, his wife came outside, yelled at him and slapped his face before he took their son and left, he said.
His wife said he was forcing their son to leave, so they began pushing and slapping each other on the arms. The two have only a verbal agreement on child custody. She also advised that she had been drinking earlier in the evening.
The homeowner witnessed the father’s arrival and the mother’s attempt to get the son out of the truck, but she said she didn’t see the mother deliver a facial slap.
The responding officers saw no visible marks on the father’s face. Because of conflicting stories and the lack of physical evidence, the officers made no arrests.
Nov. 11
Dusty Field Road (threatening phone call)
A man reported on Nov. 11 that an acquaintance called and sent him threatening messages. He said the man is the former boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend, and the suspect was recently paroled.
He said the man sent him a message on Facebook about a week ago, upset about a past incident between them, saying, “It’s time to pay the piper.” The responding deputy saw the message.
The victim said the suspect also called him at 1:30 a.m. on the date of the report and threatened to kill him and his children.
Nov. 15
Gulf Stream Drive (intimidation)
On Nov. 15, a man reported threats from a former employee at Gerdau Ameristeel.
He said it began on Nov. 14 when he looked for the then-employed suspect, who failed to return from lunch break. He found the man asleep in his vehicle in the parking lot. The employee didn’t respond to taps on the window, so the victim opened the vehicle door. The suspect just stared at him, so the victim said, “Break’s been over 20 minutes. It’s time to go back to work.”
The victim walked away but returned in 10 minutes to find the suspect still sleeping. Getting irate, he told the suspect to just go home. When the victim was walking toward the building, the suspect drove rapidly toward him, got out of his vehicle, removed a handheld company radio and slammed it into the victim’s hand.
The victim said the suspect then left aggressively.
He also said the suspect returned to work later and entered the building, yelling at the victim, “You hollered at me like I’m a retard, and nobody gets away with that!” The suspect left when the victim told him to go home before he made things worse.
The victim later contacted a supervisor, who reviewed video of the incident and notified Gerdau’s temp service that the suspect should not be allowed to return.
The victim began receiving profanity-laced texts from the suspect, warning of bodily harm and property damage. At 9:50 p.m., one text threatened a broken face and home burglary and also complained bitterly that the victim was trying to take Christmas from the suspect’s son. The last texted threat around 4:40 a.m. Nov. 15 stated that the suspect wasn’t actually angry, but if he was, “it’s hard to stop a Ford running 80.”
Nov. 16
Doctor Logan Drive (simple assault)
A man who was off his medication for mental disabilities attacked a woman on Nov. 16, the victim reported. She said he was on the phone line around 12:10 p.m., trying to contact 911 for an unknown reason when she picked up the phone to make a call. He got angry while she was talking with Shelby County Dispatch, pushed her and punched her in the head three or four times, she said. She never lost consciousness, and she ran outside to get away from him. As she fled, she cut her hand on the front porch light.
Deputies found the man walking away from the scene, and he appeared very disorganized and irrational, making incoherent statements. His family said he had been off his prescribed medication for about two weeks. The officers took him to Lakeside Behavioral Health System in Memphis for an emergency commitment.
Lillian Bend Drive (threatening phone call)
mother reported on Nov. 16 that her son had received death threats for himself and his whole family from an acquaintance. The Snapchat message on Nov. 9 stated, “Im killing him and his whole family from da babies to grandparents oml you gon here abt it on da news watch we got crips and GDs looking fa him on.” The complainant’s son wasn’t able to provide any other suspect information.
Nov. 21
Airline Road (misdemeanor vandalism)
A victim at Arlington High School (5475 Airline Road) had lost his wallet at an unknown location but he reported on Nov. 21 that a female student returned it to him that day in poor condition. It was wrapped in toilet paper with lotion all over it, and his driver’s license, school card and wallet were cut up.
Assistant Principal Reginal Gipson said the student admitted taking it from her boyfriend’s vehicle, damaging it and returning it to the victim. She also offered to pay for the damages. She was suspended for three school days, and officers did not issue a juvenile summons. The victim said he would be satisfied if the suspect paid him for the wallet.
Airline Road (intimidation)
A mother reported Nov. 22 that a female student at Arlington High School had texted a threat to break her daughter’s jaw. Her daughter said the suspect was mad because the daughter had argued with the suspect’s girlfriend about dating.
The mother confronted the suspect about it at a basketball game that night and the two argued. An officer reviewed the text message, and the suspect admitted to arguing with the victim and texting her. The suspect said the threats were empty.
The mother said she wanted to press charges against the suspect, who is 18.
Nov. 25
Kerr Street (business burglary)
An employee at Mable’s Beauty Shop (11944 Kerr St.) found the front door ajar upon arrival at 7:40 a.m. Nov. 25. Deputies cleared the building and discovered pry marks on the rear door (possible entry point).
The owner discovered that these items were missing: An RCA TV, a heater, rollers and an art object (picture). Damages were estimated at $380.
The last time an authorized person was at the business was around 4:30 p.m. Nov. 23.
Nov. 29
Airline Road (business burglary)
An intruder at Chem-Tainer (6055 Airline Road) did an estimated $3,000 of damage to two vending machines, the plant manager reported on Nov. 29. She also advised the responding officers about two unlocked points of entry to the building.
Surveillance cameras showed a suspect entering the break room around 12:19 a.m. The suspect wore a long black coat with brown fur around the hood, black pants, white tennis shoes, and white gloves with black palms and fingertips (which matches the gloves issued to Chem-Tainer workers). The person covered the camera with a black cloth before breaking into the Coca-Cola and O-Town vending machines.
The part owner of O-Town Vending said about $20 was stolen from her machine. A Coca-Cola representative did not have an immediate estimate of the money stolen from his machine.
Jon Oak Drive (simple assault/domestic violence)
A woman who found her estranged husband in bed with another woman was arrested and charged with simple assault/domestic violence for slapping his face multiple times.
She said they had lived apart for three months but were still legally married when she returned to the home to retrieve some clothes and cosmetics. She admitted hitting him. The husband said he tried to restrain her and protect himself.
At the scene, deputies also recovered the suspect’s small-caliber black handgun (9mm Austria) and took it into evidence.
