MURFREESBORO—A Murfreesboro man entered a not guilty plea to four felony charges in Pike County Circuit Court on Monday, February 22.
Steven Lynn Henry, Jr., 30, has been charged with commercial burglary, a class C felony; theft of property, a class D felony; theft of property—firearm, a class D felony; and possession of a firearm by a certain person, a class D felony.
The felonies stem from a burglary at Pawn Kings in Murfreesboro on February 16. Murfreesboro City Officer Obie Laurent responded to check the burglary alarm around 4:45 a.m. and checked the exterior doors to the business while waiting on the manager of the store, Tim Smith, to arrive.
Upon Smith’s arrival, he and Officer Laurent checked the interior of the building and found the air conditioner vent open in the back store room, pushed open from the inside. A laptop computer and a play station game console were found in the duct. Officer Laurent also recovered a strap that appeared to have been caught and cut off, and one red and black glove. The strap was later determined to be from a back-pack used in the robbery.
Smith checked the surveillance video as Officer Laurent went outside to document the point of entry and found the screws had been removed from the exterior panel of the air conditioning duct to gain access.
The surveillance video showed a white male coming out of the vent into the building and walk into the bathroom with the hood of his jacket concealing his face. He then entered an area that was not visible by surveillance and reappeared on surveillance in the back storage room carrying a thin, black bag and a back-pack style camouflage bag. The video continued and part of the man’s face was revealed as he walked back and forth between rooms carrying items and putting them in the vent.
According to the affidavit of arrest, Officer Laurent identified the subject as Henry from a call he investigated on February 7 about a suspicious person in the parking lot of the Murfreesboro Nursing Center and Pawn Kings. Laurent had located Henry knelt down beside a vehicle in the back parking lot of the nursing home behind the pawn shop. Laurent had spoken with Henry and told him not to come back to the property or he would be arrested for criminal trespass. Laurent also noted that Henry was wearing the same pants and coat in both incidents.
Murfreesboro Police Chief Randy Lamb arrived at the business and Smith provided officers with a list of items immediately noticed missing. The list included: a DPMS AR-15 caliber rifle; a $10 bill from the register drawer; a 15” to 18” sword with sheath; a Tablet computer; and a survival style Bear Gill edition Gerber knife.
Smith told the officers that items had been moved and that he would have to check the inventory list to determine what else was missing.
At 10 a.m. Chief Lamb, Murfreesboro Police Sergeant Stephen Coleman and officers with the Pike County Sheriff’s Department served a search and seizure warrant at Henry’s residence on North Maple Street in Murfreesboro.
The only person inside the residence when officers entered the home was 28-year-old Casey Rauch. Rauch advised he was living at the residence with Henry and that the home was owned by Henry’s father. He told the officers that the bedroom he was found in was his and that the other bedroom belonged to Henry. Rauch also told the officers he did not know where Henry was, but that he believed he had gone to work with his father early that morning.
A search of the residence discovered a box of .289 caliber Remington bullets; a DPMS AR-15 rifle, a Free Tech coat; a camouflage back-pack; a gray cap; one red and black glove that contained receipts from stolen property from Pawn Kings; a plastic box that contained six knives; one Fuji camera; two Tablet computers; a Nintendo 3DS; a Samsung cell phone; seven Nintendo games; a Fluke thermometer; two swords; a DeWalt case with an impact drill and charger; a stainless steel pipe (possibly drug paraphernalia); a plastic “Family Guy” box containing three syringes and one light bulb fashioned into a smoking device (drug paraphernalia); and other miscellaneous items.
Some of the items still had Pawn Kings retail tags. Smith was notified and arrived at the residence where he identified several items as the pawn shop’s property.
Later that afternoon Officer Laurent met Chef Lamb at the residence. Chief Lamb had Henry in custody and had found the pants worn during the burglary and another stolen game console from Pawn Kings. Henry told the officers that a stolen Ruger .380 handgun was hidden in the closet.
Henry told officers that Rauch was not involved in the burglary. Henry was arrested and transported to the Pike County Detention Facility. His first appearance was on February 17 and his bond was set at $100,000 by District Judge Leanne Daniel.
When Henry returned to court on February 22 his bond was reduced to $50,000. He was given a pre-trial date of May 16 and a trial date of May 26.
