Police halt crime spree

Authorities say what is going to turn out to be a city- and county-wide crime spree came to an alarming halt early Wednesday morning with the sounding of a warning at a business and a warm truck hood.

            Marion police officers responded to an alarm at Buddy Mills’ Allstate Insurance office on East Court Street at 3:20 a.m. Wednesday and found that a window air conditioning unit had been removed. Someone had rummaged through the building, and a cash drawer was sitting on top of a desk. However, nothing was missing, which made officers believe that the suspects got spooked by the alarm and fled, according to Investigative Sgt. Rick Gutierrez of the Marion Police Department.

            Officers spotted a 1986 Mazda truck sitting in the parking lot and discovered that the hood of the vehicle was still warm, Gutierrez stated.

            Police and McDowell County sheriff’s deputies began scouring the area in search of suspects.

            In the meantime, dispatchers at the Marion Police Department fielded two more break-in calls: one on 7^th Street, where a culprit entered a 1997 Ford cutaway van owned by Richard Carl Jarrett but didn’t take anything, and another on 6^th Street, where a perpetrator entered Barbara Wise’s 1986 Chevrolet truck and stole a duffle bag with clothes, valued at $40.

            Authorities spotted Juan Rios “J.J.” Jaspard, 17, of Cloverleaf Drive in Marion walking on East Court Street. Officers questioned him and found his story suspicious, Gutierrez stated, and learned that he had been talking on his cell phone to John Charles Wrenn, 18, of Smoky Mountain Drive in Marion.

            The truck found parked at Allstate belonged to Wrenn’s father, John Louis Wrenn of Smoky Mountain Drive, the investigator stated.

            Gutierrez added that, when the pair was questioned, they said the two of them, 20-year-old Bryan Alan Kelly of U.S. 70 East in Marion and 21-year-old Brittany Sunette Elliott of Ray Roland Drive in Marion decided to go into town late Tuesday night and break into cars.

            “They parked at Allstate and just walked around the area,” Gutierrez stated. “They felt of car door handles to see if the vehicles were unlocked. If they were unlocked, they took GPS systems, radios and money. If they weren’t unlocked, they just moved on.”

            The detective said Jaspard and Kelly broke into Allstate. He has linked the foursome to other crimes, including the following:

            -- Break-ins to a 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis and a 1999 Chevrolet Suburban at the home of Bert Esworthy of East Oak Street on Tuesday. They reportedly stole a $400 GPS from the Mercury and attempted to take a satellite radio from the Chevrolet but couldn’t get it out.

            -- A break-in to a 1998 Jeep at the Broad Street residence of David Long Tuesday. A $300 iPod was taken.

            -- A break-in to a 2008 Toyota Prius at the home of Gregory Wayne Barksdale of Woodland Drive on July 22. They removed a $489 GPS.

-- A separate break-in to a Kia Rio at Barksdale’s residence on Tuesday, where they stole a $250 satellite radio and caused $75 worth of damage.

Gutierrez said officers impounded Wrenn’s Mazda truck and found Esworthy’s GPS in it, as well as a 9mm handgun stolen from a Nix Creek Road residence. That case was turned over to the Sheriff’s Office. In addition, the investigator stated, he found Long’s stolen iPod on Jaspard.

Gutierrez charged Jaspard, Wrenn, Kelly and Elliott each with seven counts of breaking and entering a motor vehicle, five counts of larceny, six counts of felony conspiracy, two counts of injury to property, one count of breaking and entering and one count of attempted larceny.

“Even though people feel safe in their own neighborhoods, they need to lock their doors,” the detective warned local citizens. “They were looking for unlocked cars. They weren’t going to break into a locked car because it would have drawn too much attention.”

Deputies continue to investigate similar crimes in the county and say these same suspects could face multiple charges with their agency.