Arlington’s crime report for September shows not just one but two deadly threats at Arlington High School, a pair of women continuing a parking lot spat into a near-collision on the road, a would-be prescription forger, a threatening voice message from an intoxicated sister, and a Commercial Appeal delivery man confessing to shortchanging a business for years (estimated at nearly $38,000).
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) reported those and the following incidents for Arlington in September.
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 more detailed SCSO reports.
Sept. 1
Bevan Drive (residential burglary)
A man reported on Sept. 1 that someone had burglarized his friend’s home on the 12300 block of Bevan Drive sometime during August. The homeowner took a video on Aug. 1 of the house’s condition and its appliances when tenants moved out. Later, he asked his friend to cut the grass and check on the property, and the friend noticed the back door was unlocked, the front window was open (not forced) and the garage door was unlocked.
These items had been stolen: a Frigidaire refrigerator/freezer ($2,500), a Frigidaire stove ($3,000), a Frigidaire microwave ($1,000), a Frigidaire dishwasher ($1,000), two air conditioning units ($20,000) and a garage door track and unit ($2,000). A furnace was also destroyed/damaged ($3,000).
The homeowner said the previous tenants were arrested on drug charges in July, but he didn’t know if they were the burglars. He provided the suspects’ location and telephone number. He also said the previous tenants named another man as the thief.
Sept. 2
U.S. 70 (prescription forgery)
A pharmacist at Kroger (11635 U.S. 70) reported on Sept. 2 that a man fraudulently tried to fill a woman’s prescription around 7:30 p.m. that night. The prescription was for 90 pills of Oxycodone (30 mg each), written on a prescription from Jordan Internal Medicine in Memphis.
A physician at that office had reported numerous attempts by a man trying to get medicine over the past two weeks, using a stolen prescription pad. The man left when the pharmacist refused to fill the prescription.
The doctor wanted to press charges, so the officer located the suspect at the Shell station at 6115 Airline Road. During a pat-down, the officer found a glass pipe in the man’s front pants pocket and the prescription in his back pants pocket.
The suspect said the prescription was his aunt’s, but he couldn’t give her correct contact information or specify her whereabouts.
Sept. 4
Ryewood Cove (threatening phone call)
A woman on the 11500 block of Ryewood Cove reported on Sept. 4 that she was afraid after her sister’s threatening voicemail from the previous night. The reporting officer listened to the message and determined that the woman on the recording sounded intoxicated.
Threats included, “I’ve got something for you,” “I’m coming after you,” and “I’m going to put something on you soap can’t wash off.”
he complainant said her sister had a history of drug/alcohol abuse and homelessness. The officer advised her to save the message.
Airline Road (pocket-picking)
A mother reported that someone stole a cell phone and $40 from her daughter’s purse while she was wearing it at Arlington High School (5475 Airline Road) on Sept. 4. The victim noticed the items missing around 12:52 p.m. and speculated that the theft might have happened during Spanish class in Room 315. That teacher said no phone was left in the room.
The victim later found her phone on the stairway, but the money was still missing.
Sept. 8
Airline Road (felony vandalism)
A business owner on the 5700 block of Airline Road reported that someone damaged his pool accessories between 6:30 p.m. Sept. 5 and 8 a.m. Sept. 8. Someone removed the pool cover, tore a hole in it and broke the pump that removes rainwater accumulation from the cover.
The victim said he didn’t see who did the damage, but he has had problems with neighborhood youths jumping the fence and swimming in his pool.
Sept. 9
Misty Trail (other theft/non-specific)
A resident on the 12000 block of Misty Trail reported on Sept. 9 that someone stole a plant and four landscaping bricks from her backyard sometime after 8 a.m. Sept. 6.
Sept. 10
Statley Hollow Cove (other theft/non-specific)
Someone stole a garbage can from the yard of a home on the 5700 block of Statley Hollow Cove between 9 p.m. Sept. 9 and 7 a.m. Sept. 10.
U.S. 70 (counterfeiting/forgery)
The manager of Arlington Liquors (11949 U.S. 70) reported that he cashed a customer’s $3,500 check from Title Max of Memphis on Aug. 30, but Suntrust Bank identified it as a counterfeit on Sept. 10. He accepted the check because the suspect had previously cashed other checks there successfully.
Airline Road (misdemeanor vandalism)
The assistant principal at Arlington High School (5475 Airline Road) said a student reported seeing a threatening message on a school bathroom wall between 12:52 p.m. and 1:10 p.m. on Sept. 10. The message said, “I’m shooting up the skool Sept. 22, 2014 good luk.” The threat was written inside the boys’ bathroom door on the 200 hallway.
Millwind Drive (theft from building/access device)
A woman on the 11600 block of Millwind Drive reported on Sept. 10 that her son’s friend had stolen a check from her bedroom and cashed it the previous day for $120 without her permission.
The youth had been living with the family since mid-July. Her husband’s name was forged in order to cash the check.
The victim provided the officer with the check and a copy of a document with the suspect’s signature.
Sept. 11
Logan Cove (misdemeanor vandalism)
A mother on the 5700 block of Logan Cove reported around 2:15 a.m. Sept. 11 that her daughter had broken a window pane out of the daughter’s bedroom window to enter the home. The suspect left the home on foot before the officer arrived and could not be located.
The daughter has an open warrant for child abuse and neglect and is known to hide in a neighbor’s home when police are called.
Sept. 12
Airline Road (intimidation)
A teacher at Arlington High School (5475 Airline Road) reported being intimidated by an angry female driver around 2:15 p.m. Sept. 12 during after-school pickups
The teacher was directing traffic behind the school and noticed that one driver kept moving her vehicle after being asked to stop. When the teacher tried to take a picture of her license plate so the principal could address the issue, the woman stormed out of her vehicle and approached the teacher aggressively, standing in front of him as if she wanted to fight.
Parents, students and others working in the rear of the school observed the incident.
Sept. 13
Memphis Arlington Road (intimidation)
A man’s wife and ex-wife argued on Sept. 13 at the Arlington Sports Complex about a booster seat and then had an on-the-road spat with a child in one of the vehicles. The women were both northbound on Gerber Road when one of them stopped suddenly, causing the other to swerve into the grass and then emerge onto the road in front of the stopped vehicle.
The driver who swerved got out of her vehicle, and she said the other woman drove her car too close to her body before driving away. A witness backed up that version of the incident.
There were no injuries or damage to either vehicle.
Sept. 14
Greenlee Street (simple assault)
A woman said she got hit in the face when she, her husband and another man tried to stop an intoxicated man from riding his motorcycle between 1:40 a.m. and 2:18 a.m. Sept. 14. Two people with the motorcycle driver teamed up against her, with one of them holding her down and another hitting her with a closed fist. The husband broke up the fight, and the two suspects fled the scene.
The husband said it was a small altercation and refused to give any information about the suspects. The victim refused medical treatment for minor injuries.
U.S. 70/Mary Alice Drive (misdemeanor vandalism)
Officers responded to the 12100 block of Mary Alice Drive at 5:44 p.m. Sept. 14 regarding fence vandalism at Mary Alice Park. Three suspects in a black Honda Accord on scene at first said they didn’t have a bat with them. Then they said they were at the park, filming videos using a bat, but they didn’t strike anything in the park.
A deputy observed a top fence rail at the park with six bat-sized dents in it, and the suspects eventually revealed a black metal baseball bat in the vehicle’s trunk.
No crime scene unit was available for photos, so officers released the suspects and advised them.
Sept. 18
Airline Road (embezzlement)
The owner and the lessee of Arlington Exxon Travel Center (4935 Airline Road) reported on Sept. 18 that a Commercial Appeal delivery driver who had served the business since 2008 had been delivering fewer newspapers than the billing record showed. When confronted on Sept. 14, the man admitted to shorting the business for several years.
He signed two statements and made partial restitution of $1,500 on a debt that the owner calculates is nearly $38,000.
While the officer was on scene, the suspect called and spoke to the owner over a speaker phone. She agreed not to file charges if he made restitution by the following week.
Sept. 22
Airline Road (misdemeanor drug/narcotics violation)
Two officials at Arlington High School (5475 Airline Road) met with a sheriff’s deputy in the student parking lot around 11:15 a.m. Sept. 22 to search a suspect’s truck with his consent. Inside, they found two knives, a metal baton and a 7.5 grams of marijuana.
The suspect received a juvenile summons for possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a weapon, and he was suspended from school for 180 days.
Sept. 23
Chester Street (false pretenses/swindle/confidence game)
A representative of Enterprise Realtors told officers on Sept. 23 that a bank spokesman contacted her the previous day regarding a $992.15 check a man had cashed on her company’s account.
Airline Road (intimidation)
Another anonymous threat was reported at Arlington High School (5475 Airline Road) at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 23. Someone wrote, “I will kill principal Duncan September 26, 2014” on a stall door in a girls’ bathroom near the cafeteria.
Although offered a security detail at his home, the principal declined.
Airline Road (intimidation)
An officer responded on Sept. 24 to the 5400 block of Airline Road regarding a texted threat. The victim said she was at a male friend’s house the previous day when a female texted him, “Can you legit kill [name removed] for me Or would that be crossing a line at this point.”
The victim feared for her life and told her mother about the threat. The mother notified Arlington High School, which contacted the Sheriff’s Office.
The suspect was not on campus at the time at the time of the report. The victim said she and the suspect were former friends, and the incident could have been over a mutual friend.
School officials notified parents of both the victim and the suspect of the incident and the resulting sheriff’s report.
Marquis Court (forcible rape)
An officer responded on Sept. 24 to a forcible rape on Marquis Court. No other details are currently available for this incident.
Cleaves Circle (simple assault)
An officer responded to a report of simple assault at Kim’s Kid Corral (5700 Cleaves Circle) between 8:30 a.m. and 8:56 p.m. on Sept. 24. No other details are currently available for this incident.
Sept. 25
Woodson Street (simple assault/domestic violence)
A woman on the 6000 block of Woodson Street reported that her live-in boyfriend attacked her around 5:10 p.m. Sept. 25 when she ended their relationship.
According to the victim, he pushed her into the kitchen wall, began yelling and demanding her cell phone, and backhanded her across the lip when she refused. She said he then grabbed her neck and continued yelling for her to give up her cell phone. She was held down but not choked by the hold, and she did not lose consciousness.
Her daughter heard the commotion and came out of her room, witnessing the attack. The daughter said she tried to grab the cell phone from the man, but he forcefully pushed her away, released the victim and left.
The responding officer tried to talk with the suspect by phone, but he disconnected when the officer identified himself.
A crime scene technician made the scene and took photos of the victim, who had a small amount of swelling on her right upper lip and scratches about her right wrist. The victim refused medical attention.
Sept. 26
Arlington Trace Drive (non-residential burglary)
A man on the 11200 block of Arlington Trace Drive reported on Sept. 26 that someone stole his family’s Troy-Bilt lawnmower and weed trimmer ($500) between Sept. 19 and the current date. He did not have serial numbers immediately available.
Wolf Pack Drive (false pretenses/swindle/confidence game)
A woman on the 5600 block of Wolf Pack Drive reported on Sept. 26 that she paid a man $1,000 about two weeks previously to customize her son’s black Pontiac G6, but he deceived her. She said he sent her a fake photo of the progress on the vehicle, but she and her son saw the car still sitting in the man’s parking lot with no work done to it.
They took the vehicle home, and she said the man now refused to repay the money.
She said she had not seen the suspect in several days and was unsure of his current address.
Airline Road (simple assault)
A man reported that he and his son were sitting on the Arlington High School bleachers (5475 Airline Road), watching a football game on the evening of Sept. 26 when a woman approached, hugged them, and talked for a minute before striking the father in his face and then leaving.
The responding officer contacted the woman, who said she was talking to the victim about how bad of a father he was when he elbowed her on her left side, so she hit him back.
Neither person was injured. The victim said he wanted to press assault charges against the woman.
