MURFREESBORO—Four local men were arrested on an assortment of theft and drug charges Sunday after a request for increased patrols revealed an alleged theft in progress.
According to police reports, Murfreesboro Police Officer Obie Laurent had received a request for extra patrol by Charles McKinney, who lives on Third Street and said that a neighbor had reported a person at his residence earlier that day. At approximately 1:35 a.m. Laurent was patrolling Third Street when he noted that the screen door under McKinney’s carport was open as well as the door to a storage unit, according to police.
While shining his spotlight, Laurent allegedly noticed a person behind the residence. At the same time, a vehicle parked in the back parking lot of the Pike County Health Unit turned on its lights and began to move. Laurent activated his emergency lights and drove around to find a white 2000 Chevrolet S-10 unoccupied with both doors open and two subjects running for the wood line behind the Health Unit, police allege.
Laurent notified Murfreesboro Police Chief Randy Lamb of the situation and requested a wrecker to pick up the vehicle. During a search of the vehicle, Laurent reported noticing that the keys were in the ignition and a brown wallet containing a hunter’s education card belonging to Daniel Robinson was found in the cab, according to police reports.
The bed of the pickup allegedly contained a large flat screen television, two chain saws, fishing rods and reels, tackle boxes, clothing and various other items that Laurent knew had been stolen from the McKinney residence. As Lamb and the tow truck arrived at the scene, reports indicate that Von Derrick Robinson arrived and said that the vehicle had been stolen from his brother, Daniel. The officers advised Von Derrick that the vehicle had been used to commit a crime and that he needed to bring his brother to the jail to report the truck stolen.
Von Derrick Robinson, his girlfriend, Brooke White, and Daniel Robinson were all interviewed by Lamb at the Pike County Detention Facility with all three providing differing accounts of the evening’s events, although Von Derrick and White told the same story of picking up Daniel and Angelo Quiroz Jr., 23, of Murfreesboro, and taking them both to Quiroz’s home.
Police allege that Daniel initially stated he was at the city park playing ball when he noticed his truck go by and he returned to Cash Savers, where he had left the truck parked, to find it missing. He then reported calling his brother and telling him the truck was stolen, according to police.
After being advised of the discrepancies between everyone’s stories and the severity of the charges he was facing, Daniel allegedly confessed to being with Quiroz, Randall Fincher, 20, of Antelope, CA (he has been staying in the area with family) and David Fugitt, 36, of Murfreesboro.
At that point, police say Daniel admitted that he had drove Quiroz and Fugitt to McKinney’s residence and dropped them off while he and Fincher went to EZ-Mart. He said that he received a call to pick Quiroz and Fugitt back up and that Quiroz and Fugitt were loading the stolen items into the back of the truck when they all noticed the police and fled into the woods.
Daniel Robinson, Fincher and Quiroz have all been charged with residential burglary, theft of property and fleeing. Fugitt has been charged with residential burglary, theft of property, fleeing and possession of drug paraphernalia.
All four men have provided statements to the police department and each one’s bond was set at $25,000.