The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) reported the following incidents in Lakeland during the last half of September. See last week’s issue of The Bartlett Express for the earlier incidents that month.
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.
Sept. 16
Iberville Court (simple assault/domestic violence)
A woman who lives on the 4300 block of Iberville Court reported on Sept. 16 that her husband assaulted her while she was trying to discipline her 11-year-old daughter.
The child spit on the mother and then yelled about child abuse when the mother spanked her with a belt. A 16-year-old daughter grabbed the belt just before the father entered the room. He took the belt and hit his wife on her upper left arm.
The responding officer saw scratches and a large purple and green bruise on the woman’s upper left arm.
The victim said they have been married for 20 years and there has been violence in the past but she didn’t report the incidents because she didn’t want her husband to lose his position as a FedEx pilot. Her family convinced her to file the report this time.
She said he also emotionally abuses her by accusing her of being a drug addict and allowing their four children to become disrespectful toward her.
Sept. 18
White Spruce Drive (false pretenses/swindle/ confidence game)
A Lakeland man was left with a leaky roof after paying for repairs that haven’t been performed.
He bought a home on the 9600 block of White Spruce Drive, and it needed a new roof. He found a roofer and wrote a contract for more than $11,000 on Jan. 29 with an advance payment of $4,800 and a final payment of $6,725.70.
The insurance company sent two checks, one for $9,208.62 and a second one for $2,415.05. The roofer came out on Feb. 18 and wrote a new contract, telling the homeowner to deposit the insurance checks and write him a check from his personal account.
The homeowner followed instructions, and the roofer initially said he would begin when the check cleared and then said it would be when the weather improved.
Eventually they set a date of July 23, but the roofer postponed it until July 28 because of weather predictions.
Since then, the roofer has not responded to calls or texts, the homeowner said. He plans to send a demand letter to the roofer by certified mail and begin the process of prosecution.
Sept. 19
A man reported that someone stole his pistol from his car while it was parked at the airport in Little Rock, Ark. He left his Smith & Wesson .380 pistol ($450) in the center console of his Honda Accord around 5:30 p.m. Sept. 7 before he flew to Dallas. When he returned on Sept. 17 the pistol was missing.
The man, a resident on the 4100 block of Herons Landing Lane, was not sure if he locked the car. He said the car wasn’t damaged or ransacked, and he declined to have the crime scene worked because of how long it was since the last time he saw the weapon.
The weapon’s serial number was entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.
Oak Bank (false pretenses/swindle/confidence game)
A Lakeland man avoided an expensive swindle because of a warning he read on the SCSO’s Facebook page. A suspect who claimed to be Lt. Martin of the SCSO left a voice message on his business line, and he called the man back on Sept. 19.
The suspect said he was with the warrants squad and that Judge James C. Beasley had issued an arrest warrant for failure to appear for jury duty.
The victim, an Oak Bank resident, said he didn’t receive any notice of jury duty. The would-be swindler the man had a clean record and could pay to have the warrant expunged instead of being arrested. The victim was told to buy two “financial recharge cards” at Kroger, put $1,000 on each card and call back with the card numbers and key.
That’s when the victim said he’d seen a warning for that scam online.
Woodmeade Drive (false pretenses/swindle/ confidence game)
A con man posing as a member of the SCSO successfully scammed a Lakeland woman out of thousands on Sept. 19 with threats of arrest for missed jury duty.
The woman, a Woodmeade Drive resident, reported that she had a message on her answering machine on the 18th and the 19th to call Lt. Martin of the SCSO.
The suspect that she reached advised that she could clear up her arrest warrant for missed jury duty by paying $4,000 divided among four rechargeable cards bought at Kroger.
She withdrew the funds, bought the cards and called the man back with the cards’ information. He called her back to say one card’s number was incorrect. At that point, she refused and said she was calling the sheriff’s office.
Bentbrooke Drive (impersonation)
On Sept. 19, a Lakeland man avoided the “pay up or get arrested” telephone scam that is making its way around Shelby County. He returned a call to a man who provided legitimate-sounding details, identifying himself as Lt. Michael Ellis with the Shelby County warrant division.
The suspect said the victim had two arrest warrants for failure to appear and for contempt of court related to fraud through the U.S. Postal Service. (Supposedly, the victim was mailed a letter to appear for federal grand jury duty, didn’t appear, was issued a summons and then signed the summons at his residence.)
The suspect gave a fake badge number, offered to let the victim call a certain local number to confirm his identity, and stated a string of numbers that he said were the warrant numbers.
The victim was told to buy Green Dot cards at Kroger or Dollar General to pay his pre-bond amounts of $480 and $450. He was also told to stay on the phone while he went to get the cards unless he wanted to be arrested. He refused to comply.
Oak Point Circle (impersonation)
Yet another Lakeland resident was targeted for the “pay up or get arrested” phone scam on Sept. 19, but he avoided losing any money. The man, an Oak Point Circle resident, heard from a caller identifying himself as Lt Jeff Bridges of the SCSO. He was told to pay over the phone to avoid being arrested on warrants for failure to report for jury duty and for contempt of court.
The suspect transferred him to someone who said he was Michael Ellis, in charge of taking the Justice Verification Pre-bond payments. The person posing as Ellis demanded the victim’s cell phone number, but the victim refused and was transferred to suspect Capt. Larry Jones, who was to explain the whole process again.
The victim ended the call and reported the incident to the real SCSO.
Sept. 21
Spruce View Lane (felony vandalism)
Someone egged and scratched a Toyota Tacoma parked on the 5300 block of Spruce View Lane on Sept. 19.
The victim’s mother said the vehicle belongs to her son but she has been driving it because he is currently unlicensed.
Someone egged and keyed the left and right rear quarter panels and the tailgate of the truck between midnight and 8 a.m. on Sept. 19 with damages estimated at $500. She reported the vandalism on Sept. 21.
She did not see who damaged the truck but said her son’s former girlfriend, a Bolton High School student, threatened to hurt him and has been driving by their home.
The ex also posted the word “eggsiting” on Twitter.com, but the girl’s mother said she was at home that evening.
The victim, a student at Arlington High School, also filed a separate intimidation/domestic violence report that afternoon about alleged death threats the ex-girlfriend was making on Twitter.
He reported that she made two tweets that said, “you make me cry one minute and I wanna set you on fire the next. this is not ok” and “ok sometimes I feel fine and sometimes I wanna jump off a building or hit you with my car idk I hate this though.”
He also was told at school that she threatened to harm him. The boy said he feared for his safety and that the girl has been driving by his house.
Pointe (impersonation)
Another Lakeland woman was targeted for the “pay up or get arrested” phone scam racing through Shelby County lately but avoided losing any funds to the swindle.
She got a second callback as she was trying to respond to the first message from a man who claimed to be Lt. Michael Evans of the SCSO. He said she received a court summons by certified mail, signed it on Aug. 19 and failed to appear in court on Sept. 8.
He claimed there was an active arrest warrant for her failure to appear.
The suspect gave her three choices: Turn herself in at the SCSO, meet deputies at her home and be arrested, or buy a prepaid credit card to pay the fine.
The woman, a Point resident, denied receiving or signing a summons. While she was on her land line with the suspect, she tried to call the phone number from the suspect’s first message and discovered it was fake.
The suspect disconnected the call when she said she was reporting him to the SCSO.
Sept. 22
Grays Creek Drive (theft of other trailer)
The grounds manager for the Shelby County Schools bus lot (2800 Grays Creek Drive), reported on Sept. 22 that someone had stolen a 2012 Southland U-Dump trailer.
The trailer is normally parked under the roof of Structure F at the bus lot, behind a fence with a locked gate. It is a black 12-foot, two-axle box-style dump trailer with hydraulic lift and white wheels. It was stolen sometime between Sept. 1 and Sept. 14.
The grounds manager said the area is normally unlocked between 4 a.m. and 7 p.m. Surveillance video may be available, and he said he would advise after checking with his technical personnel.
The responding officer found nothing at the scene to be photographed or fingerprinted.
The trailer’s serial number was listed on NCIC.
Sept. 24
Ace Drive (intimidation)
A mother reported that a classmate was intimidating her daughter on Sept. 24.
Both students are in the 10th grade at Arlington High School, and their bus dropped them off at the east entrance of the Somerset Apartments. She said the suspect chased her daughter all the way home and repeatedly kicked the apartment’s front door.
The responding deputy saw dents and footprints on the door.
The mother said the suspect also threatened her daughter on Sept. 28 on the bus and she fears for her daughter’s safety. She said the school’s administrators have been advised of the problem.
Sept. 28
Herons Nest Cove West (theft from motor vehicle)
A gun owner reported on Sept. 28 that someone took his weapon from his SUV between Sept. 19 and 20.
The man, a resident on Herons Nest Cove West, left the Glock semiautomatic gun ($600) in his Yukon’s center console overnight and believes he left the doors unlocked.
There was no sign of forced entry, and he didn’t know what door the suspect used to enter the vehicle.
The gun’s serial number was entered into NCIC.
Sept. 30
Lakeland Hills Drive (theft from motor vehicle)
A woman reported that someone took her purse from her unlocked Ford Escape on Sept. 30.
She said the car was parked at Funtime Learning Center (2935 Lakeland Hills Drive) for about five minutes around 5:45 p.m. When she returned, her Kate Spade purse was missing from the front passenger seat. The purse contained cash and her driver’s license.
The victim was not able to provide any suspect information.
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