Published: June 18, 2008 02:02 am      

Victim’s call leads to burglary arrests

PALESTINE — An alert neighbor helped stop a burglary Saturday afternoon, leading to the arrest of two Palestine men.

According to Palestine Police Sgt. Larry Boyer, officers responded to a burglary call at 1:27 p.m. at 806 E. Lamar St., with the suspects reportedly fleeing the scene with the victim in pursuit.

According to homeowner Charles Carr, a neighbor knocked on his door to tell him that a man was taking things from Carr’s garage.

When Carr went to his garage, he reportedly found Olin Lee Reagan, 34, of Palestine, there holding Carr’s gas can and one of his chain saws, Boyer said. When Carr asked what the man was doing, Reagan reportedly said that “he was sorry, he just needed some gas.”

At that point, Reagan put down the gas can and chain saw and ran to a blue Dodge Caravan, which then pulled away, Boyer said.

As the van drove away, Carr followed in his own vehicle and called police from a cell phone, describing the van and its direction, Boyer said.

The van eventually stopped across the street from the La Chaparra Restaurant at 204 N. Church St., and a white male exited the vehicle, ran across the street where construction crews were laying fresh asphalt and entered a blue Ford truck, Boyer said.

The truck then headed westbound on Avenue A toward Spring Street, where it was located by Boyer at the intersection of Avenue A, Sycamore Street and Spring Street.

When the light changed, the truck turned west on Spring Street and was quickly pulled over by Boyer between N. John Street and N. Queen Street.

The white male passenger, which matched the description of the man who had fled the van, reportedly told officers that “he was sorry, that he did not mean to hurt anyone,” and was arrested on a charge of Burglary of a Building.

Lt. Nick Webb arrived to take custody of the passenger, who was identified as Reagan, and positively ID’d by Carr as the man who had been in his garage.

Meanwhile, officers Tommy Thacker and Terry Tawater arrived at the scene of the abandoned Dodge van and observed a male subject approaching the vehicle.

The man, who was identified as David Lee Carr, 56, of Palestine and no relation to the victim, told police that the van belonged to him and had been parked there because he had run out of gas, Boyer said.

When officers asked him if there was anyone with him, David Carr said that a black female and a white male named Olan had been with him, but that the white male had run off toward Kroger.

Officers detained David Carr for further questioning and arrested the man for burglary of a building after the burglary victim, Charles Carr, arrived at the scene and positively identified him as the man who had driven the van away from his residence.

Police recovered a Poulan chainsaw, an Oregon chainsaw replacement chain and a five-gallon gas can containing approximately three gallons of gas, Boyer said, which amounted to an estimated $220 total value.

Reagan and Carr were transported to the Anderson County Jail, where they remained on $50,000 bond each, set by Judge James Westley.

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Beth Foley may be contacted via e-mail at bfoley@palestineherald.com