Description of Offense : Reckless Endangerment, Shot Into House ( 8 People Inside ) , Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Possession of Stolen Handgun by Convicted Felony, Possession of a Firearm By Convicted Felon
On May 28 2017 at 6:08AM Officer A was working a Greenland Drive special when dispatch gave over the radio a call to 628 Courtland Street that a bullet just came through her bathroom wall. Officer A was close and responded and arrived 6:08AM.
Upon arrival the officer spoke to the Complainant who stated she was woke by a loud boom. The Complainant stated she thought a tree limb fell looked outside then looked in the down stairs bathroom and saw a bullet hole in the wall that came from the adjoining apartment.
The bullet shattered several glass figurines, smashed against the Formica counter top and stopped. The Complainant stated five kids and three adults along with a one year old were present at the time the bullet came through the wall. The mother and her one year old baby were asleep on the couch.
Officer A was told by the Complainant that she could hear someone in the adjoining apartment running up and down the stairs.
Officer A and Officer B went next door and after the third set of knocks on the door and yelling out ” police department ” a black male came to the door with only a pair of black shorts on and no shoes. He was breathing hard and sweat beads were forming on his forehead. He appeared nervous and said he was asleep and didn’t hear anything.
He invited the officers in and and said everyone ( his girlfriend and two kids ) were upstairs sleeping. Officer A told him that a shot was fired from his apartment to next door. Officer A looked into his lower bathroom, the lights were out and the wall looked okay at first and the toilet water was chalky color with a piece of grey plastic floating. Officer C arrived on scene and as he took a closer look at the wall he saw where the renter (referred to here now as Suspect A) had already filled the hole and put a fresh coat of matching paint on the wall ( a space of paint 3″x 7″ wet ).
Suspect A said ” his home boy did fire a shot but took the gun with him.” Then he said he called a friend from Campus Villa to come get the gun and he met him at the church two blocks over. Officer C located his slippers that the Suspect said he wore and even due to the rain on the grass and gravel drive outside they were not wet and had no wet gravel residue on the soles.
Detective A was called to the scene who read the Suspect his Miranda Rights. The Suspect then agreed to talk to the officers and gave verbal consent for the officers to search the apartment for the gun.
After two hours and forty five minutes of looking everywhere the officers did locate fresh wet paint on top of a five gallon orange paint bucket, three sets of electronic digital scales, three grinders, two small bags of marijuana and a glass jar with marijuana shake in it. The apartment smelled very strongly of marijuana as soon as the Suspect had opened the front door.
The Suspect told Detective A that he was a convicted felon and he was sitting on the toilet having a bowel movement while playing with the pistol trigger and that’s how the gun went off. The Suspect stated he fixed the hole before police got there but gave the gun away.
The Suspect stated that he would pass a drug screen at work but had a bottle of urine in the kitchen cabinets. The Suspect stated ” I gave y’all consent to search why won’t any of y’all believe me the gun is not here. ” The Suspect was placed under arrest for Reckless Endangerment, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of Marijuana. The Suspect’s girlfriend was charged with a warrant for VOP. She also gave verbal consent to look for the gun in the apartment.
All rooms were searched and in the bedroom with the Suspect and his girlfriend’s belongings the before mentioned items : three sets of electronic digital scales, three grinders, two small bags of marijuana and a glass jar with marijuana shake.
Officer C and Officer B used a SOU pole cam to check every vent, every crevice the officers could not see but did not see a gun hidden. At 9:28AM the Suspect was placed under arrest and started towards the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office for booking.
Officer C said he was going to look one last time where the Suspect was sitting on the couch. When the officer raised up the couch he stated he had just heard a thud hit. Inside the bottom of the couch’s small black mesh there was a hole and Officer C could see a pistol clip. The officers photographed the area then pulled back the black mesh and saw a black Beretta semi-auto pistol with a live 9mm round in the chamber. The clip was also loaded.
After the officers entered the the pistol into NCIC it came back stolen from Spartansburg, North Carolina which is the Suspect’s hometown. The mother of the girlfriend had just walked in to the apartment and saw the officers when Officer C first noticed the gun. The mother also did a walk through of the apartment and saw/agreed the officers did not break/destroy anything in the their consent search. The mother of the girlfriend took custody of her grandchildren and said ” This apartment reeks of marijuana he is not suppose to be smoking my grandson has asthma. ”
The Suspect was booked into RCSO for incarceration and has a bond of $160,000. Evidence booked into property by Officer A and Detective A.
Names and personal information have been omitted to protect the privacy of our local officers and subjects mentioned in this police report.
