The Bartlett Police Department handled the following incidents for Nov. 12-25. This listing includes the most notable incidents for the reporting period and does not necessarily reflect all police activity.
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 BPD reports.
Nov. 21
Bartlett Boulevard (theft)
A man reported Nov. 21 that his City of Bartlett green garbage can ($25) and his orange Echo hedge trimmer ($250) were missing. He wasn’t sure when he last saw the trimmer but the garbage can was there the previous day. He believes the suspect went into his garage because that’s where he keeps the trimmer.
Nov. 22
Stage Hills (business burglary)
An officer responded to a burglary at Allstar Sweets (7876 Stage Hills, Suite 106) at 5:22 a.m. Nov. 22. The owner said someone burglarized the business around 8:25 p.m. on Nov. 20.
The suspect used a hammer to break the front door glass and enter the business. Then the suspect went directly to a file cabinet in the back of the business and removed a cash box ($20) containing $200 in cash and an old debit card. The suspect fled without touching anything else.
The owner provided a suspect description from the business’s indoor security camera footage.
Kirby Whitten Road (theft from motor vehicle)
A woman was conned into making her purse vulnerable to theft on Nov. 22. She said she left Kim’s Nail Salon (3051 Kirby Whitten Road, Suite 3) and had driven around the building on the south side closest to Mt. Palomar Drive when a black female flagged her down, saying she ran over glass in the parking lot. The victim got out of her car to check her rear tires.
When the suspect walked around the vehicle as if to help her check, the suspect opened a car door and took the victim’s light brown leather purse.
The suspect is described as a young black female, 25-30 years old, weighing about 170 lbs. with long hair and wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and a white baseball cap. She was with another suspect, described as a tall black male, 6 foot 3 inches to 6 foot 5 inches tall, weighing about 230 lbs. and wearing a red bomber jacket (a red jacket with white sleeves) and jeans.
The officer checked with personnel at the nearby Donut Box (3051 Kirby Whitten, Suite 1) to see if there was any video of the side of the building where the incident happened. Store video showed the two suspects entering the Donut Box at 10:56 a.m. and buying one donut while a gray Chevrolet crew cab pickup truck backed into a parking space on the east side of the building.
The suspects spent about 10 minutes inside the Donut Box, and while there Suspect 2 tried and failed to steal a cell phone and purse from behind the counter. Then they left and entered the nail salon. Their photos have been released to the public.
Gingerhill Lane (vandalism)
Someone punctured or let the air out of all four Firestone tires of a truck, the victim reported on Oct. 22. The vandalism happened between 1 a.m. Nov. 8 and 4:30 a.m. Nov. 22. The tires were on the victim’s 2011 Ford F150 truck.
Bartlett Boulevard (fraud)
A swindler tricked a representative of Damon Dental Care (2798 Bartlett Blvd.) out of $500, he reported on Nov. 22. He said someone called him around 3:40 p.m. Nov. 21, claiming to be from Memphis Light Gas and Water and saying he was late on his bill. He was told that unless it was paid immediately they would disconnect power to his office building.
He went to Kroger and bought a MoneyPak gift card for $500 and gave the card’s information to the suspect. He later realized he was conned out of the money.
Summerhill area (theft of a license plate)
A woman reported on Nov. 22 that someone removed the Tennessee license plate from the rear of her 2012 Hyundai while it was parked in her driveway. She said it happened between Nov. 15 and Nov. 22.
Robin Hill Drive (attempted aggravated burglary)
A man reported that someone tried to enter his home via the side door on Nov. 22. He left home around 8:30 a.m. and returned around 3:45 p.m. The responding officer noted that the door showed damage ($400) consistent with someone trying to push it in. It didn’t appear that the intruder was successful.
Stage Road (suspicious activity)
An officer on routine patrol in the area of Stage and Court streets spotted a female suspect walking in the Planet Fitness parking lot (5740 Stage Road) around 12:30 a.m. Nov. 23. The officer parked on the east side of the lot and watched her walk up to about five vehicles, looking inside them as if she were looking for items inside them.
The officer detained her when she walked south toward Road.
A check of her Georgia driver’s license showed that she had a misdemeanor warrant for failure to appear in a misdemeanor case. She also had several warrants in Georgia for various offenses. The officer took her into custody for the warrants and asked why she was peering into vehicles on the parking lot. She said she had worked out with friends, finished early and went outside. The officer talked with a Planet Fitness employee who said the suspect and three friends had not been in the facility any time that evening. The suspect said she was trying to find her friend’s car because she left cigarettes in it.
The officer advised personnel and patrons at Planet Fitness to contact BPD if they noticed any items missing from their vehicles.
Nov. 24
Stage Road (motor vehicle theft)
In just 10 minutes on Thanksgiving evening, a customer at Krispy Kreme (6072 Stage Road) emerged to find that his car had been stolen. He had left the keys in the ignition of his Toyota Corolla with the doors unlocked.
He entered the bakery around 6:10 p.m. and discovered the theft at 6:20 p.m., and officers were there within 5 minutes. While they were talking, an officer saw the car traveling east on Stage Road, preparing to turn north onto Bartlett Crest Drive. Officers turned on their emergency lights while the vehicle traveled through the Bartlett Heights Apartments and turned back west onto Stage Road. An officer positioned himself in an attempt to identify the occupants and stop them, but the driver intentionally struck the police vehicle on the rear passenger side bumper.
The suspects them fled west on Stage Road, turned south onto Bartlett Boulevard into Memphis and continued to ignore all attempts to stop them. Memphis Police began assisting, and the suspects turned abruptly through the gas station on the corner of Hollywood and James and turned east onto James Road. When an officer drove close and slowed to a stop, the suspect collided into the officer’s front driver’s side bumper before turning north onto New Allen. That’s when the driver lost control of the vehicle and hit a utility pole at Walnut and Cypress.
BPD and MPD officers apprehended the female driver and the male passenger.
Nov. 26
Bright Star Lane (theft from motor vehicle)
A victim noticed his Tennessee license plate ($110) was missing from his 2008 Cadillac around the afternoon of Nov. 26. He last saw it on Nov. 25.
He said his wife drove the vehicle to her work at Delta Medical (3000 Getwell, Memphis) on Nov. 25 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. They went to the Hollywood movie theater (6711 Stage Road on Nov. 26 between noon and 2:30 p.m. They then to Kroger 2942 Kirby Whitten Road) between 2:45 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. He noticed the tag was missing when they returned to the vehicle.
