The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office handled the following incidents in Lakeland during the first half of 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. 2
Canada Road (other theft/scrap metal)
The property manager for Lakeland Station LLC (formerly the Lakeland Factory Outlet Mall) at 3536 Canada Road reported on Nov. 2 the theft of thousands of dollars in copper pipes and coils. He said the thefts had happened between Sept. 1 and Nov. 2.
The copper came from the rooftop of the vacant former mall and an adjacent building on the same property. He noticed around 11 a.m. Nov. 2 that a large panel had been removed from one of the mall rooftop a/c units. When he returned around 1:15 p.m., he saw what appeared to be fresh damage to the most northwest unit on the roof. He estimated the copper theft to be around $2,000.
The property manager said there’s no exterior rooftop access to the building, so a suspect would have to use a ladder. He said the adjacent building has have a CrossFit gym occupying a suite, and the tenant told him that on Oct. 30 someone cut the lock to the exterior ladder on that building and gained access to the rooftop, stealing about $1,000 worth of copper coils.
The property currently has no security or surveillance cameras.
Nov. 5
Huff N Puff Road (drug equipment violation)
Shelby County fire and AMR Unit 614 were first on the scene the evening of Nov. 5 when a guest at the Super 8 Motel (9779 Huff N Puff Road) reported a woman who was turning blue in the face and having a hard time breathing. When the officer arrived, the customer said they were in the motel room talking when she decided to take a shower. He heard a loud noise from the restroom and went in and found her motionless on the floor.
Paramedics on scene advised the officer that the woman, a white female, might have been shooting up drugs as evidenced by the markings on her arms and how tiny her veins were. They revived her, and she said she had shot up heroin earlier that day.
While on scene and trying to locate her ID card, officers found two syringes, one in her purse and the other inside a dresser drawer along with more of her property.
The AMR unit took her to Saint Francis Hospital in Bartlett in stable condition. Officers took the complainant to jail on verified warrant charges.
Nov. 8
Blue Spruce Drive (theft from motor vehicle)
A man reported on Nov. 8 that someone had rummaged through his car and stolen more than $900 worth of belongings.
He parked his Mercedes CLA 250 in his driveway on the 9600 block of Blue Spruce Drive around 6 p.m. Nov. 7 and found its interior in disarray around 10 a.m. Nov. 8. The center console was open and papers were scattered about.
Items taken included a bottle of Mambo cologne ($60), Ray Ban sunglasses ($250), 30 lottery tickets ($235) and a blue plastic crate containing papers ($10) and an iPad ($350).
The victim said there were no known suspects, witnesses or security cameras in the area. There was no known damage to the car, and he did not have serial numbers available for the stolen property.
Nov. 9
U.S. 64 (business burglary)
The alarm for a shattered side door alerted deputies to a break-in at Marco’s Pizza (9014 U.S. 64) at 1:03 a.m. Nov. 9.
The manager arrived and said someone had stolen a white Regions bank bag containing an undetermined amount of cash from the safe. The owner said the last two security system recordings were on Oct. 24 and that night when deputies arrived.
The manager said about six other employees had the safe’s security code. Officers didn’t recover any latent fingerprints on scene.
Gramercy Cove (identity theft)
A woman reported on Nov. 9 that she was the victim of identity theft. Her bank, A+ Federal Credit Union, advised her on Oct. 7 that someone had withdrawn $600 from her account, using her debit card at an ATM at the Circle K Convenience Store in Arlington (8971 U.S. 64).
She said she didn’t make those withdrawals, and she has not had her debit card or any personal identity documents stolen.
Nov. 11
Ace Drive (felony drugs/narcotics violation)
Officers arrived at a confusing scene on the 9200 block of Ace Drive just before 1 p.m. Nov. 11. A caller reported hearing a female screaming for help inside the apartment as well as hearing a lot of foot traffic.
Deputies arrived and detained two black males and one white female. She said one of the men had poured bleach all over her clothes unintentionally, and she yelled and screamed at him. While a deputy was doing a routine pat-down search on the man, the deputy found a clear plastic bag containing crystals. The man said it was ice (narcotics) for his personal use. The substance later tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 3.9 grams total gram weight (TGW). Deputies arrested him on felony drug charges.
Morning Sun Road (simple assault)
Deputies had to break up a fight at the scene of a single-vehicle crash at 8:45 p.m. Nov. 11 at U.S. 64 and Morning Sun Road. The suspect, the driver of the wrecked car, had gotten upset at the way he thought the wrecker driver was speaking to the suspect’s mother.
While deputies watched, the suspect argued with the wrecker driver and tried to pull him out of the wrecker. Officers interrupted the fight, took the suspect to the ground and were handcuffing him when his brother ran up and interfered. The brother then tried to flee but was also taken into custody. Both brothers received misdemeanor citations.
Nov. 12
Huff N Puff Road (theft from building)
An employee at the Super 8 Motel (9779 Huff N Puff Road) reported on Nov. 12 that someone had stolen a flat-screen TV and a lamp ($350 total) from one of the rooms.
A man checked into that room around 9:10 p.m. on Nov. 11, and housekeeping discovered the thefts the next day. The complainant said surveillance footage showed an unknown white male leaving the room with the TV and lamp tucked under his arms at 2:56 a.m. on Nov. 12, putting the items into a dark four-door sedan and leaving. The complainant said the person on the security footage didn’t look like the motel guest.
