Resident returns to her apartment to find door kicked in, item stolen

A Lawrenceburg man was arrested recently when authorities determined that he had kicked in a door at an apartment complex where he was staying, and stole an item from inside.

The victim summoned Lawrenceburg Police officers to her Manor Drive apartment, indicating that she had been away for several days. She said she returned to find that her door had been kicked open and her futon, which was a rental, was missing.

While investigating the matter, the reporting officer indicates that a man walking past the apartment acted in a suspicious manner. The officer asked the man, identified as eighteen year old Tony Lynn Lanier, whether he knew anything about some missing furniture.

Reports show that he confessed to going inside the apartment and taking the futon. He told the officer, however, that the victim’s husband “gave it to him.” The officer contacted the husband at his place of employment and he indicated that he had not given anyone permission to go inside the apartment or take the futon.

Officers spoke with the resident of the apartment from which Lanier had exited. She told them that he had “been smoking meth,” then handed over a pipe and scales from the room in which he had stayed. She said he had stored the futon inside of her apartment before transporting it to his apartment a few days prior.

Officers also spoke with Lanier’s girlfriend. She told them that the futon was inside of her apartment at that time, but that she had no idea that it had been stolen. She reported that Lanier had “just brought it home one day.”

Lanier was transported to the Lawrence County Detention Center where he was booked under charges that include public intoxication, possession of drug paraphernalia, and aggravated burglary. Bond was set at $12,000.

Lanier has been scheduled an initial appearance in General Sessions Court in early February.