Suspect in cell phone theft case arrested with several stolen items

Lawrenceburg Police officers investigating a complaint regarding the theft of a cell phone Friday, soon located the suspect only to find that the phone was not the only stolen item in his possession.

Officers were called to Express Lube on North Locust Avenue just before 1:00 p.m. where an employee reported that a man had come into the business around 10:30 that morning and stole his Galaxy S5 cell phone off of the front counter. He showed officers security footage that allowed them to obtain a description of the suspect and his vehicle.

Officers began to patrol the area for the suspect vehicle and report finding such a vehicle at 316 May Street. They indicate that there was a man lying on the ground, working on the vehicle, and the man, too, matched the description they had obtained. Reports show that he was dressed in the same shorts and boots seen in the video footage. When they approached, they report spotting a red shirt like the one the man was wearing in the video lying on the seat inside of the vehicle.

Officers spoke with the man, identified as twenty-two year old Justin George Murry of 1857 Lamar Avenue in Lawrenceburg. He allegedly admitted that he had stolen the cell phone earlier and said that it was charging inside of his vehicle.

Officers conducted a pat down during which they discovered that Murry had a small .25 caliber handgun concealed in his right front pocket. They also noted that he smelled of burned marijuana. When they questioned him about the aroma, he reportedly admitted that he had smoke marijuana earlier in the day. He told them that there was a small amount of marijuana inside his vehicle. Officers then retrieved a cigarette pack from the vehicle that contained a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana.

During the arrest, the reporting officer noticed that Murry’s vehicle bore a license plate issued to retired military personnel. They checked and discovered that the license plate was registered to another person. When they asked him about the tag, he told them that he had asked a friend to “get him a tag because his was expired.”

While still at the scene officers ran the vehicle identification number on the 2000 Chevrolet Blazer that Murry had claimed as his own, only to discover that it had been reported stolen out of Columbia.

Murry was taken into custody and transported to the Lawrence County Detention Center for processing. During a conversation with another police officer, the reporting officer learned that the department had received a report of a stolen handgun that matched the description of the gun that was in Murry’s possession. A check of the gun’s serial number revealed that it was the one that had been reported as stolen by a Frisbie Avenue resident the previous day.

Murry was booked under charges that include theft, simple possession of marijuana, auto theft, using a stolen license plate, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was incarcerated in lieu of a $123,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in General Sessions Court on September 2, 2016.