A Smithville man is facing felony burglary and theft charges after he was caught breaking into a residence by the homeowner last week.

Byron Ray Wilson, 42 of Smithville, was charged with burglary and theft of property over $1,000 along with two counts of aggravated burglary. His bond totals $57,500.

Police were called Monday, October 7 to a residence on Joe Tittsworth Road and upon arrival spoke with the homeowner who reported that he awoke from sleep to find an unknown man in his bedroom. After chasing the man out of his house the homeowner returned to his room and noticed that his girlfriend’s jewelry including several gold necklaces and a gold oval ring valued at $2,000 had been stolen along with a pair of camo hunting boots and a Bluetooth headset.

Another burglary was reported the same day at a nursery on South Congress Boulevard. Police responded and observed that someone had kicked in the back door of the main office and went through the desk drawers. The only thing reported missing by the owner was a camo jacket that belonged to an employee and a set of keys on a lanyard.

Later while searching the area an officer saw a man peering out of an open garage at a residence on Meadowbrook Drive and stopped to talk with him, but when he walked up to the garage the man was not there. The officer then noticed a door in the garage leading to the house and suspected the man had gone into the residence. Seconds later the door opened and the homeowner emerged to report that he had caught the intruder (Wilson) by grabbing him around the neck and throwing him out of his house. The officer took Wilson into custody at the scene and upon a search found Wilson with the homeowner’s work badge in his pocket. Wilson was also wearing the camo jacket and he had the lanyard of keys from the nursery around his neck. He was also wearing the hunting boots and Bluetooth head set taken from the burglary on Joe Tittsworth Road.