By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Couple charged in West School burglary
fleetwood.png
FLEETWOOD

 

A man and woman have been arrested in connection with a Sept. 25 break-in at DeKalb West School.

 

Brian Clinton Howell, 30, of Brush Creek, and 25-year-old Shauna Melissa Fleetwood of Mount Juliet, were arrested by the sheriff’s department after an investigation determined that they had not only taken part in the burglary at the West School, but at a number of Smith and Wilson county schools as well. Both Howell and Fleetwood are charged in DeKalb with burglary and theft of property under $500. Howell is additionally charged with vandalism and possession of burglary tools.

 

According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, video surveillance cameras at DeKalb West recorded Fleetwood, driving a green Ford Taurus, pulling up at the school and dropping Howell off. The man reportedly used a pry bar to enter a side door and break into a vending machine, taking $20 in cash.

 

Fleetwood allegedly returned to pick Howell up soon thereafter.

 

“We got a report early on the morning of Sept. 25 from the DeKalb West School principal saying that there had been some vandalism and theft at the school,” the sheriff said. “Deputies and a detective responded to the scene, and the detective was able to get video footage of the person who had broken into the school, as well as the green Ford Taurus that dropped him off and picked him up.”

 

The detective allegedly discovered that the Taurus went to a gas station in Liberty and parked for a few minutes before going back to the school.

 

After his department discovered that a school in Watertown had been burglarized as well, a joint investigation with Watertown police revealed that similar break-ins had occurred in Smith County as well.

 

On Thursday evening, Wilson County deputies and officers from the Lebanon Police Department the suspects Howell and Fleetwood, at the Traveler’s Inn in Lebanon on Sept. 29 and took them into custody. Both allegedly admitted to their involvement in the burglaries.

 

The Smith County Insider reports that New Middleton Elementary, Forks River Elementary, and Carthage Elementary were hit in Smith County, and Tucker’s Crossroad Elementary and Sam Houston Elementary were burglarized in Wilson County from September 17-28.

 

Howell’s bond was set at $15,500, and Fleetwood’s is $12,500. Both appear in DeKalb County General Sessions Court on Oct. 27.