A man on River Hills Circle told police he had hired a contractor to do labor for him. He said while the man was in his employ, he loaned him several tools to use. The man said the contractor had ceased work for Christmas around Dec. 24 and was to return to work around Jan. 1. Around the beginning of January, the contractor told the man he was COVID positive and would not be able to return to work. At a later date the man attempted to contact the contractor to retrieve his tools via phone and email but was unable to reach him and has since been blocked by the contractor via phone and social media. The man said he loaned the contractor three nail guns ($2,100), 12 industrial batteries ($1,800), one saw ($270), one jigsaw ($170), multiple shovels and related tools ($200), one mechanic tool set ($200), and a variety of multiple hand tools ($1,000). The man said he only wants his tools back from the contractor.
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A man on East Brainerd Road told police someone stole his truck during the night. He said he still has the keys and doesn’t know how they took it. The truck was entered as stolen in NCIC.
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Police were dispatched to East Court Terrace on a call of suspicious activity. A woman there said she has camera footage of a person driving up to her mailbox and opening it. The officer watched the footage and at approximately 12:24 p.m., someone in what appears to be a Volvo station wagon or SUV pulled up to the woman’s mailbox, opened it, then shut it and drove off. The woman said nothing in the box was stolen.
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An officer spoke with an employee of Chatt Inn at 2000 East 23rd St. who said the occupant of room #207 is past due on his payment and they needed him to leave the property. The officer spoke with the man and informed him of such. He gathered his belongings and left the property.
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An anonymous caller told police they could see a large trash fire in the homeless encampment near 1701 Chickamauga Loop. On arrival, the officer found the fire next to a disabled van by the road. A woman said she was using the van as a temporary residence and she does not know who started the fire. The Chattanooga Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire.
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A man called police and said the day before he was in front of Pilgrims at 1591 Broad St. and had dropped an envelope which has his Social Security card and birth certificate in it.
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A woman on Thompson Street told police she is moving to Nashville, but she has noticed a woman driving several times up and down the street checking mailboxes and looking through windows. She has even seen on her Ring camera video of this woman taking mail out of their mailbox and leaving.
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A homeowner of a residence on Grace Avenue, who was not on scene, called police and said a neighbor had called and said a black, four-door VW Jetta had pulled up to the house. A tall, thin man had exited the car and come to the front door. The neighbor said it was some time before the man returned to the vehicle then left. Police checked the residence and found no signs of forced entry. Police checked the area but did not locate the vehicle.
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Police found a locked car with flashers on in a lane of traffic at 500 North Holtzclaw Ave. It was towed by A-1 Towing because it was a traffic hazard and was blocking traffic.
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A man on 7th Avenue told police he had his car stolen at Auto Center at 3501 7th Ave. He had left it running while he went inside his shop. When he came back out it was gone. He said the car didn’t have a front grill and the left headlight was out. It also has a Jesus fish sticker on the left back bumper and a Glacier National Park sticker on the right side of the back bumper. The vehicle was stolen with the keys inside. The vehicle was entered into NCIC.
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A concerned citizen called police and said there was a vehicle parked in his apartment complex at 25 South Germantown Road that he suspected was stolen. The officer confirmed the car was stolen. Dispatch was able to contact the owner, however they did not have an extra key. The vehicle was towed by Guy Yates per the owner’s request.
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A man on Lee Highway called police and said he wanted to buy a firearm from a friend and wanted the serial number run to be sure it wasn’t stolen. Police ran the Ruger 9mm serial number and found that it was stolen in December. The information was turned over to a police investigator.
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An officer was leaving a side job at Hamilton Place Mall and was stopped by a man who said his 2013 Ford Mustang had been stolen. The man said he last saw it when he parked it and, when he returned, it wasn’t there. The officer drove the man through the parking lot in an attempt to locate the car in case he overlooked it, but to no avail. The officer had the car entered into NCIC. He said the vehicle has no marks, stickers or dents on it.
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An officer was driving south on North Holtzclaw turning from Wilcox Boulevard and saw a white female pedestrian wave from the east side of the street as she too was traveling south. The officer spoke with her and asked if everything was alright and she said she was either "peachy" or "preaching." After this initial contact, the officer circled around the block and noticed her throw up her arms and begin walking the other way. At this point, the officer got out of the car and asked if she needed help. She said she walked past the stop sign she was supposed to turn at. She refused to give the officer any information about herself except that she was going to a friend's house on Wilson Street. The female did seem disoriented and unorganized in her thought process. She was wearing a black jacket, a long green and white dress, brown boots, and has red hair.
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While police were responding to another call on Mountain Creek Road, a woman approached the officers and said she was just at the dumpsters and there was someone inside the dumpster throwing stuff out. Police spoke with the man in the dumpster, who was homeless. He said he had permission to be at the dumpster and said he was not throwing things from the dumpster but was instead cleaning up around the dumpster. This story was confirmed by the president of the board for Signal View Apartments. The president said he knew the man was cleaning up around the dumpster and had permission to do so.