Burglary suspects identified in court

Mon, 09/28/2009 - 5:35pm
By: John Munford

Despite not seeing their faces, a 19-year-old woman identified in court today one of two men accused of breaking into her south Fayette home Feb. 5.

Jessica Sullivan testified that after seeing the two men enter her home, she screamed, ran toward the back of the house and hid in the closet while she remained on the phone with a 911 operator.

Sullivan was not injured during the incident and was not approached by either of the suspects, according to her testimony.

Sullivan said that minutes after the burglary, a deputy drove her to see if she could positively identify the car she had seen outside her home before the burglary. Sullivan she recognized the car and also Trey Harris as one of the men who entered her home.

Harris and co-defendant Rashard Arnold were arrested minutes after the incident when their vehicle was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy on Redwine Road near Bernhard Road.

The deputy, Renee McCollum, testified that Arnold fled the car on foot and Harris remained behind where he was arrested. McCollum said that Harris told her at the time that he and Arnold were in the area to visit the mother of his child.

Although McCollum couldn't recall where that woman's home was, assistant district attorney Lura Landis told the jury that the woman lived in Douglasville.

Another sheriff’s deputy, Phil McElwaney, testified that he and partner Keith Whiteside minutes later spotted Arnold, shirtless, standing in a driveway in the nearby Newhaven subdivision, where he was taken into custody without problem.

McElwaney testified that another deputy found a white T-shirt disposed of in the woods while searching for Arnold. One of the suspects was described as wearing a white T-shirt and bluejeans with a hat, though the hat was apparently never found.

Det. Aaron Fenimore testified that he had deputies collect both suspects’ shoes so they could be compared to a shoe mark left on the door at the Sullivan home. Fenimore said it was clear to him that the shoe mark on the door matched the boots that Arnold was wearing when he was arrested.

Fenimore said the boot and the mark on the door were not submitted to a crime lab for analysis.

It was also noted in court that although nothing was taken from the Sullivan home, the suspects’ car contained a drawer from a jewelry box that had jewelry inside. Detectives were unable to determine who owned that jewelry, but it was not taken from the Sullivan home.

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Shoebox's picture
Submitted by Shoebox on Tue, 09/29/2009 - 1:32pm.

more of the same...these men doing things they're not supposed to do! EXCEPT...this time, we have a young woman who was courageous in helping in the capture! You go, girl! Smiling


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