The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man in Sale Creek after he allegedly stole a family’s Christmas gifts.
Deputies responded to a reported burglary Tuesday evening on Leggett Road, where, through forced entry, an individual stole multiple items, including “all the family’s Christmas presents, three televisions, children’s toys, shoes and a lawn mower,” according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office. The deputies encountered Derrick Starnes at a property on Detour Road, and observed children’s toys in plain view in the front yard and bed of Starnes’s truck, the release said.
With a search warrant, “nearly all of the stolen items, including the Christmas presents, were recovered” from the property and returned, the release said.
Starnes was arrested and charged with aggravated burglary, burglary, felony vandalism and felony theft, the release said.
— Compiled by Sam Still