ROANE COUNTY, TN — A pair of young adults were scared senseless when the home they traipsed into was discovered to be occupied by an armed — and pretty ticked off — resident.
What’s more, they weren’t, or at least hadn’t yet begun, stealing things out of the garage they broke into. They were just hanging out.
As Roane County News Reports:
Deputies with the Roane County Sheriff’s Office responded [to the incident] to investigate.
“Upon arrival, I made contact with the homeowner who was standing in the doorway leading out to the garage and he was holding the subjects at gunpoint,” the report said. “I went into the garage and secured both subjects.”
The suspects were identified as 28-year-old Tawny Michelle Inman and 30-year-old Robert Andrew Monroe.
“The homeowner stated he had walked out to the garage area and saw the female sitting on the steps and immediately went back into the house to get his gun,” the report said. “The homeowner stated as he came back to the garage, a male subject was walking down the steps coming from the bonus room located over the garage area. The homeowner stated he then held both subjects there until deputies could arrive on scene.”
Inman and Monroe were questioned by deputies.
“The female subject stated she thought the male suspect was renting the property,” the report said. “The male subject stated he went into the house through the front door, which was unlocked.”
The report said a remote for the garage door was found on Monroe.
“The homeowner stated that the remote was kept on the visor of the silver Jeep SUV sitting in the driveway, and the homeowner stated it was unlocked,” the report said. “The Jeep did belong to the homeowner. It is believed that the two subjects made entry into the residence through the garage door using the remote.”
Inman picked up an aggravated burglary charge, and Monroe was charged with the same, and theft of property and burglary of a motor vehicle to boot.
Nice going there, Monroe. If you’re going to make up a lie on the fly, it’s generally best to not claim something immediately disprovable by anyone looking to verify you.
It may be Inman was on the level — it would explain why someone would be so incredibly passive in the middle of a home invasion — but it still stinks. How on earth did Monroe get his hands on the garage door?
1057 News shed a little light on that point. According to their report, on Monroe was found a black bag along with the garage remote — and that bag was just loaded with various keys.
The homeowner mentioned that he kept his remote in his car, unlocked. Although I too wish for a world in which that’s a perfectly safe practice, this isn’t the “Andy Griffith Show.” It’s a horrible idea.
Stay safe and secure, folks. Smart, safe measures taken to keep your home locked down will serve you well.
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