Ronald Phillips
Two major burglaries were solved in Bradley County, due to a witness and follow-up work by deputies and detectives.
On Friday, deputies responded to a residence on Hensley Road. Contact was made with a witness who stated he saw a man load several boxes and various items into the back of a red Chevrolet SUV at another residence across the road.
The witness also indicated he captured the event on his cellular phone, and let deputies review the footage. Deputies then went to the residence, and observed a trail of tall grass that appeared to be disturbed as if someone had dragged a large object across its surface. The trail of disturbed grass led to a door of an outbuilding that was partly open. Contact was made with the property owner, and she discovered approximately $20,000 worth of farm equipment and personal collectables had been stolen.
On Saturday, Cpl. David Harper and Deputy Charles Denton went to the area of the reported theft to conduct saturation, and observed a vehicle that fit the description of the one that was seen the previous day by the witness. When deputies made contact with the vehicle, they observed two lawn mowers in the rear of the red Chevrolet SUV that were similar to lawn mowers seen by deputies at the residence on Hensley Road the previous day.
The property owner identified the lawn mowers, and advised they had been stolen after the first theft report had been filed.
The driver of the vehicle was identified as Ronald Preston Phillips, and consent was given to deputies to search his vehicle. Several items that were reported stolen from the residence of Hensley Drive were located during the search, including an AC generator, several tools, and boxes of collectibles that were also identified by the property owner.
The deputies were able to determine that Phillips had initially stolen items from the residence and later returned to steal additional items.
Further investigation by detectives produced a residence on Bettis Drive that was being utilized to store stolen property. Several stolen items from the residence on Hensley Road were discovered during the search, including two wicker chairs, a large air compressor, and two kick start hit and miss motors that had been reported stolen.
Phillips has been charged with two counts of burglary, theft over $10,000 and theft over $1,000.
Other charges are pending as investigators continue to process a large number of items found at the residence on Bettis Drive.
Stolen items