The Bartlett Police Department (BPD) handled the following incidents during the wek of Feb. 22-28.
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.
Feb. 22
Poplar Avenue (drug charge)
An officer picked up a suspect with a little something extra at the Shelby County Jail (201 Poplar Ave., Memphis) at 1:45 p.m. Feb. 22.
All was routine at first, with the officer verifying the warrant and transporting the suspect to Bartlett Police Headquarters without incident.
Then the jailer asked the suspect to empty his pockets upon arrival. The suspect produced two small, clear bags with white residue inside.
The powder residue tested positive for methamphetamine.
Feb. 23
No location specified (lost property)
A man reported on Feb. 23 that the license plate was missing from his 2001 Nissan Maxima, and he assumed he had lost it. He said he’s driven to many locations between Feb. 20 and Feb. 22 and does not know where the tag was lost or removed.
Feb. 24
Shadowlawn Road (property damage)
An officer stopped two youths driving a red pickup truck in circles at Shadowlawn Park around 3 p.m. Feb. 24. The first suspect said he wasn’t sure who owned the park but he just wanted to take his vehicle, a Ford Explorer Sport Trac, offroad.
The officer smelled the strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle when the suspect opened his front passenger door. The officer had the backseat passenger step out of the vehicle for a search, which revealed a pack of Marlboro cigarettes in his pants pocket. A search of the vehicle turned up no marijuana.
One suspect received a juvenile summons for causing about $1,000 worth of landscaping damage to the park because of wet conditions during his ride. The other suspect received a juvenile summons for having tobacco as a minor. Both were released at the scene to a guardian.
U.S. 70 (vandalism)
A man reported Feb. 24 that around Jan. 1 he noticed that someone had cut and removed about 20 feet of his chain link fence at the back of his property. He followed several four-wheeler tire tracks leading to a tree where someone had built a deer stand.
On Feb. 23, he removed the deer stand and reported the vandalism. He estimated the value of the fence and repairs is more than $500.
Feb. 25
Bedfordshire Drive (vandalism)
An officer spotted a black Dodge Ram truck around 5 p.m. Feb. 25 when it was stuck in the mud just off Bedfordshire Drive in the Brunswick Village subdivision. Police have been dispatched several times to this undeveloped area regarding pickups mudding in the open fields.
The driver said he was driving in the grass and got stuck in the mud. Officers observed several large ruts in the open field parallel to Bedfordshire Drive. Matthews Towing was dispatched to the scene for a private pull and was able to free the truck from the mud.
The suspect was released on scene and advised not to come back to the property until contacted by a land owner.
Because of previous damage done to the property from prior incidents, officers could not determine the amount of damage from the current event at the time of the report.
Feb. 27
North Street (auto burglary)
On Feb. 27 a man said someone had damaged and burglarized his truck on the 5500 block of North Street. He parked his 2002 tan Chevy Tahoe in his driveway around 10 p.m. Feb. 26. His sister alerted him between 8 and 9 a.m. the next morning that the truck doors were open.
He went outside and saw that his passenger side door lock had been punched out, and his belongings had been scattered throughout the vehicle. The damage was about $200, and a two-ton car jack was also stolen.
South Sungate Circle (theft)
A man watched a suspect drive up in front of his home around 9:20 a.m. Feb. 28, steal his newspaper ($1) and drive away toward Altruria. The suspect was a white male driving a black SUV.
