Collegedale Police on Tuesday morning made a burglary arrest in a case in which they found three long guns in the trunk of a vehicle.
At approximately 7:48 a.m., the Collegedale Police Department was dispatched to the Mini-Storage facility at 5906 Main St. on a suspicious person dressed in a dark hoodie, inside the storage facility complex. Upon arrival officers found several storage unit locks had been cut.
According to two callers, they did not see a person leave the storage facility, which is surrounded by a fence. A car close to the facility was found with no one inside, the trunk lid open, and three .50 caliber long guns in the trunk.
Collegedale Patrol units set up a perimeter around the area until the Collegedale Special Operations Response Team (SORT) could arrive. Upon arrival of the team, area businesses, including the Ooltewah Elementary School, were placed on lockdown. The Collegedale SORT team searched all of the storage units at the facility. While the SORT team was searching, Hamilton County SWAT team was called in to help search an abandoned warehouse, formerly known as Universal Forest Products. No one was located during the search.
The Collegedale detective division contacted a person of interest who was later identified to be the driver of the abandoned vehicle. During the interview the person of interest confessed to attempting to burglarize two separate storage facilities in the Main Street area. The suspect has been charged with attempted burglary and vandalism. The suspect’s name is being withheld for further investigation.
The second storage facility is located at 5827 Main St.