A violent home invasion, vandalism and a dog bite are among the incidents reported recently in Bartlett. The Bartlett Police Department (BPD) listed following incidents in Bartlett for Feb. 2-13.
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.
Feb. 2
Nordstrom Cove (attempted trailer theft)
A Nordstrom Cove man is lucky to still have his 36-foot 1993 Chaparral trailer and the dragster race car inside. He reported on Feb. 2 that someone snapped off a key in the padlock ($20) securing the trailer’s side door sometime between 5:30 p.m. Feb. 1 and 10 a.m. Feb. 2.
Harvest Lane (animal bite)
A brown pit bull bit a jogger’s left ankle on Harvest Lane around 7:10 p.m. Feb. 2. The victim made it to Gingerhill Lane and reported the injury. The responding officer observed a wound on the victim’s heel.
The dog had dug under his owner’s fence but was back inside his kennel by the time police responded.
An animal control officer issued a citation for the owner to appear in Bartlett Court. She took the dog to the vet on Feb. 3 for a 10-day observation period.
Feb. 3
Bartlett Heights (motor vehicle theft)
A woman reported on Feb. 3 that someone stole her Dodge from the parking lot near her residence.
She believes it was taken between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Feb. 3.
Feb. 4
Greenleaf Cove (vandalism)
Two suspects landed in the Bartlett City Jail on Feb. 4 after being caught vandalizing a large grassy area of Ellendale Park (3800 Greenleaf Cove) after a tipoff from an anonymous caller.
Officers arrived around 7:15 p.m. and saw both drivers spinning their tires and “doing donuts” (driving in tight circles, carving ruts in the ground).
One of the drivers had a GoPro video camera mounted on his dashboard. Officers got written consent to view the footage, which showed the suspects damaging the turf.
Feb. 6
Venson Drive (home invasion)
Two black males wearing blue bandannas over their faces invaded a Venson Drive home around 7:48 p.m. Feb. 6, terrorized the homeowner and stole items before fleeing.
The victim said he was at home with his sister when he saw the men inside the house. Initially, he saw one of them hiding in the kitchen pantry but didn’t think anything of it because his sister often sneaks people into the house. He also said he was aware that his sister had a black male guest at the house at that time, and he thought it was the same person at first.
Then one of the suspects confronted him, ordered him to get down on the floor and attacked him when he refused. The victim said one suspect strangled him from behind while the other punched his face and head. He tried to fight back, but one blow to the head was so hard he lost consciousness briefly.
When he woke up, the suspects dragged him into his bedroom and demanded his money and car keys. They found his keys in the bedroom, took his cellphone, stole two jars of change and fled in a 2005 Toyota Corolla belonging to the victim’s father.
Feb. 8
Hulon Street (damaged property)
Someone damaged a Hulon Street resident’s mailbox between 1:45 p.m. and 5:20 p.m. Feb. 8. The mailbox was bent backward and appeared to have been manually pushed over. The responding officer saw no skid marks on the street to indicate a car collision.
Feb. 9
Rockyford Road (damaged property)
An employee at the Flynn Broadcasting tower site (4950 Rockyford Road) reported around 11:30 a.m. Feb. 9 that someone had torn down boards and posts, damaging the fence around the northeast tower.
Orion Cove (theft)
Someone stole a wallet ($15) from an unlocked car while it was parked at St. Ann Catholic Church (6529 Stage Road) on Feb. 9. The thief charged more than $460 on the victim’s debit cards before the theft was discovered.
The victim said someone used her personal First Tennessee debit card fraudulently at the Shell gas station at 6390 U.S. 70, (amount unknown), Shoney’s restaurant at 5829 U.S. 70 ($150), Ruby Tuesday restaurant at 1653 Sycamore View ($200) and Captain D’s restaurant, location unknown ($17.39).
The suspect also fraudulently used the victim’s business debit card from First Tennessee at a McDonald’s restaurant, location unknown ($100).
Feb. 10
Kate Bond Road (auto burglary)
Someone forcible removed an aftermarket radio ($800) from the dashboard of a woman’s vehicle while it was in the parking lot of Saint Francis – Bartlett. The theft happened between 7 p.m. Feb. 9 and 1 a.m. Feb. 10.
Surveillance video was not immediately available at the time of the report.
Feb. 11
Stage Post Drive (burglary)
Someone broke into a Stage Post Drive business on Feb. 11, the owner said. His alarm company alerted him around 7:45 p.m. to say that his business’s alarm was sounding.
The only items affected were an opened cash register drawer and a stolen tan cashbox safe ($25).
Feb. 12
Barbaro Drive (theft)
A woman reported that someone stole her three-month-old husky ($300) from her fenced-in back y ard. It was her second pet theft within six months.
She said she let her current two dogs into the yard around 2:45 p.m. Feb. 12, and one was missing when she returned around 15 minutes later.
The gate was open wider than normal, and she spoke with neighbors and searched the surrounding area before calling the police.
The dog is a black-and-tan male husky named Apollo that was not wearing a collar at the time it went missing.
Feb. 13
Summer Avenue (open door)
An officer responded to an open door complaint at El Molino restaurant (6496 Summer Ave.) around 4:30 a.m. Feb. 13 and found the front patio glass door shattered.
A blue latex glove was discarded on the ground by the door. Inside, the responding officer noticed that someone had disconnected the security camera that was above the bar, facing the hallway to the kitchen. The kitchen’s back exterior door was also unsecured.
The victim arrived on scene and said the camera was connected when he left the business at 10 p.m. on Feb. 12, and both doors were unsecured.
He also said the discarded blue glove looked like the ones his kitchen staff regularly uses.
He said he has cameras throughout the building and in the rear of the business, but he could not access the footage until Feb. 14.
