Vandalism, viola theft, swindle disturb Arlington

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) reported the following June incidents in Arlington. (Editor’s note: All suspects are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty, and values are estimated for stolen/damaged items. These are brief summaries of more detailed SCSO reports.)

June 1

• Memphis Arlington Road (vehicle vandalism): Someone scratched a curse word and the number 12 into the paint on an SCSO vehicle sometime between 12:01 a.m. June 1 and 1:30 p.m. June 2. The vehicle is a black 2014 Tahoe used by the Reduce Impaired and Distracted Driving (RIDD) unit. The driver who normally uses the vehicle was not sure when and where someone damaged it, but the vandalism may have occurred while it was parked at the Sherriff’s Substation at 11670 Memphis Arlington Road. The damage was to the driver’s side rear quarter panel. A different officer took the vandalism report and crime scene photos at 1:20 p.m. June 2 at a car repair shop while the SUV was being repaired.

June 2

• Airline Road (theft from building): Someone stole a student’s viola ($2,200) from Arlington High School back in November. The student said she left the instrument, a brown No. 1 Eastman viola in a black case, beside the theater room’s door around 8:45 a.m. that morning and it was gone the next day. Neither she nor her teacher were able to locate the instrument, and the victim has no suspect information. When the victim’s mother learned of the theft, she immediately filed a complaint with the Sheriff’s Office on June 2.

June 4

• Bevan Drive (theft of rental car): A resident on the 12300 block of Bevan Drive reported on June 4 that someone stole a rental Kia Soul from his driveway after he hosted a party with about 20 guests. He was not sure if a guest took his keys or if he left them in the ignition after loading equipment. The Kia disappeared between 2:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. June 4, and there were no signs on site that the thief forced entry into the car. The dispatcher entered the car’s information into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). The vehicle has a Mississippi license plate (HDD132).
• U.S. 70 (stolen jewelry): An employee of West Tennessee Community Homes (11003 U.S. 70) said her patient reported the theft of a gold ring ($400) from the patient’s residence at West Tennessee Community Homes. The victim last saw the ring at 4 p.m. on June 3. No suspect information was available. An SCSO officer took the report on June 4.

June 6

• Chester Street (vandalism/misdemeanor): Someone cut the pool lining at a home on the 5700 block of Chester Street sometime between 6 p.m. May 17 and about 10 a.m. June 6. The victim’s pool maintenance technician identified the damage as a deliberate cut.

June 9

• Campbell Street (simple assault/domestic violence): A woman reported on June 9 that her boyfriend had choked and hit her in a fight that began around 7 p.m. June 8. She said he came home, started drinking and kicked off an argument after she fixed dinner for him. About half an hour later, he jumped up off the couch, started to choke her and told her to leave the house immediately. She walked out, but he followed, grabbing her right arm from behind and slamming her into a wall. An officer took her report at the Memphis-Arlington Substation on June 9, and a captain took photos of her bruises. When the officer escorted her home to gather personal belongings, the boyfriend was there, and the officer arrested him.

June 13

• U.S. 70 (shoplifting/ misdemeanor): An employee at the Dollar General store (12035 U.S. 70) noticed three shoppers acting suspiciously when they entered on June 13, and she spotted two bottles of Irish Gear Advance Performance Body Wash ($8) in Suspect 2’s purse as the trio left. The employee approached the suspect in the parking lot, asking to talk, but the suspect and her companions ran to a green Chevrolet Cavalier and fled the scene. The incident happened between 1:40 p.m. and 2:22 p.m. June 13. The Dollar General employee could not describe any of the suspicious shoppers’ clothing. The responding officer entered the car’s Tennessee license plate number into NCIC, but the vehicle registration was not on file. The store manager was not on scene, and the responding officer could not review the security surveillance.
• Douglas Road (vandalism/misdemeanor): Two juveniles were spotted destroying and then urinating on a steel and plastic school chair on the playground at Arlington Elementary School between 4:30 p.m. and 5:31 p.m. June 13. One of the officers handling the incident contacted parents and turned the children over to their custody. He then contacted the school’s operations supervisor, who said they would decide to do about the incident the next week.
• Milton Wilson Road (theft from building): Someone stole a woman’s purse from a locked desk drawer at West Tennessee Regional Office (11437 Milton Wilson) between lunch and quitting time on June 13. The desk is in the second-floor lobby of the Baker Building, and it is open to the general public. The victim was unable to provide any suspect information.

June 14

• Warren Ridge Lane (false pretenses/swindle/confidence game): A woman hosting a garage sale on the 12400 block of Warren Ridge Lane on June 14 said a customer tricked her into giving too much change. The victim said a woman approached her with a small mesh bag containing a yellow dress and a pair of jeans, asking the victim to break a $100 bill. The suspect said she had already given the large bill to a man at the sale. The suspect received $93 (four $20 bills, one $10 bill and three $1 bills) and quickly drove away in a black Pontiac Grand Am. When the garage saler realized she had been duped, the man followed the suspect and caught up with her at the Fred’s on U.S. 70 near Greenlee. He said the suspect began swearing at him and telling him to get out of her way when he tried to explain the situation to her. He decided to just call the garage saler and give her the suspect’s vehicle information. Officers found the name of the registered owner, who matched the suspect’s description. The suspect is a white female in her mid-30s with long dark hair, about 5’0” tall and weighing approximately 110 pounds. Deputies checked the area but were unable to locate the suspect. The incident occurred between 10:30 a.m. and 11:11 a.m.

June 15

• Summer Mist Time (theft from motor vehicle): A man discovered around 8:40 a.m. June 15 that someone had stolen his Apple iPad from his 2010 Toyota Tundra, which had been left open to air out the previous day. So he began tracking the device, using an Apple tracking application. The app led him to the corner of Milton Ridge Drive and Milton Wilson Road, where he heard his iPad ringing from underneath a green electrical box on the right side of the street. When he lifted the box and saw a plastic Walmart bag full of electronics, he called the SCSO. A crime scene technician shot photos at the scene, lifted fingerprints and took the bag of electronics into custody. The bag contained an iPad in a black leather Targus case, a Phillips portable DVD player, a Garmin Nuvi 1450 GPS (with a nearby Jon Oak Drive residence programmed as the home address), a Garmin Nuvi 40LM GPS (with a home address of Union Avenue and McLean Boulevard), two GPS chargers and a plastic bag of $18.54 in change. No items were listed on NCIC, and the officers left a message for the resident on Jon Oak Drive. Officers gave the iPad back to the original complainant, who identified it as his property.

June 16

• Milton Wilson Drive (theft from motor vehicle): Someone stole 10 plastic stripes (valued at less than $800) from a room at the West Tennessee Regional Offices (11437 Milton Wilson Drive) sometime between May 5 and June 16. A facilities supervisor said he laid 12 stripes out in the room and noticed that 10 were missing when he returned. He had no suspect information, and his upper management told him to report the theft. The facilities supervisor said the building is secure after he leaves, but other employees have building keys. The building also does not have an alarm or camera system.
• Jon Oak Drive (theft from motor vehicle): A woman on the 5000 block of Jon Oak Drive discovered on June 16 that someone had stolen a Garmin GPS from her car. When she reported the theft and passed along some suspect information, she learned that her GPS had already been recovered and that officers had tried to contact her the previous day. She said the car was probably unlocked; it was not ransacked, and the GPS was the only item missing.

June 17

• Airline Road (theft from motor vehicle): Someone stole a wallet full of credit and debit cards from a minivan parked at Arlington High School on June 17 and immediately began a spending spree of nearly $500. The victim said he left the driver’s window cracked and his wallet inside the glove compartment between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. The vehicle, a 1997 Chrysler Caravan, was parked on the football field side of the schools’ parking lot. He didn’t notice the theft until the Discover Card Fraud Prevention Office called him at 11:43 a.m. He discovered his wallet was missing and began notifying creditors and his bank. His Social Security Card was also in his wallet at the time of the theft. The total amount stolen was not yet available when an officer took the victim’s information, but charges or debits on multiple cards had already totaled $485.89. The victim has cancelled all stolen debit and credit cards. Two of the charges were to pay off an account with American Financial Inc. The company could not release the account holder’s information to the theft victim but told him they would release it to the SCSO.

June 22

• Airline Road (theft from building): A manager at Taco Bell (4935 Airline Road) reported that the safe was short $152 when she counted its contents around 3:30 p.m. on June 22. She said only managers have access, and she told the SCSO the name of the manager who worked the preceding shift. The other manager said he also noticed the money was short but did not report it. The complaining manager found this suspicious because managers are required to report any missing cash, and she said the shortage arose during the preceding manager’s shift.

June 23

• Afton Place (simple assault/domestic violence): A woman reported that an argument with her boyfriend on the 12200 block of Afton Place turned physical between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. June 23. She said that when they stood up from the couch, he raised his fist as if he were going to hit her, but he chest-bumped her instead. He left the residence, and she locked the door, but she unlocked it when he returned. That’s when he chest-bumped her again and also pushed her with his shoulder. The suspect had left the scene by the time officers arrived, and they saw no physical markings on the victim.

June 29

• TN 385/U.S. 70 (drugs/ narcotics violation/felony): Deputies responded to a reckless driver call in the wee morning hours of June 29 and found drugs and open alcohol containers in the car. It began when someone reported a reckless driver in a black Chevrolet Camaro, driving east on TN 385/U.S. 70 between 12:15 a.m. and 12:42 a.m. on June 29. A deputy spotted the car taking the U.S. 70 exit, swerving on the ramp and coming within inches of sideswiping the guardrail on the left side of the exit ramp multiple times. The deputy pulled over the driver, who confessed that his driver’s license was not good and that he might have an outstanding warrant. The officer detained the driver when he noticed the man had glassy eyes, a slurred speech and a strong odor of intoxicant on his breath. The complainant also arrived and positively identified the car as the one he saw earlier, driving recklessly. An officer spotted a cold half-drunk quart bottle of Bud Light in plain view on the passenger’s side floorboard. While retrieving the bottle, that officer found a plastic bag of what appeared to be marijuana. The location was not safe for giving the driver a standardized field sobriety test, so the first officer asked a Whiskey Unit to come to the scene. They relocated to a nearby gas station and began a sobriety test, but the suspect stopped cooperating. Officers found that he had three previous DUI incidents, and his license was revoked for DUI. A narcotics deputy seized the Camaro. Another officer took the narcotics to the Memphis Police Department, where it tested positive for THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) and weighed in at 27.38 total gram weight. The suspect had a mandatory blood draw and was processed and booked at the Shelby County Jail.
• Doctor Logan Cove (vandalism/misdemeanor/domestic violence): A witness reported seeing an unknown woman park a white Chevy Impala in front of a house on the 5700 block of Doctor Logan Cove and walk around the residence. He heard a window break, and then she returned and drove away. The victim said the suspect was his ex-girlfriend, who was upset because he is now dating someone else. The victim showed the officer an earlier text message that read, “check yo front glass and car.” He said she also poured a drink on his 1997 Mercury Marquis. The responding officer noted the broken window ($200) and a sticky liquid drying on the car trunk (no damage), and he saw that several bushes in front of the home blocked the view of the broken window. Officers researched and found that the ex-girlfriend drove a vehicle matching the one seen at the crime scene.