Two men suspected of stealing and trespassing were arrested after police located them hiding in a vacant apartment.
In the early morning hours of Feb. 21, a Lakeside Way tenant told police he was awakened to the sound of a knock on his door followed by whispers outside.
Moments later, the tenant reported hearing his door handle jiggle, so he banged on the door and the men ran away from the scene.
Outside, the tenant noticed sticky notes had been placed on the eye holes of the doors of adjacent apartments.
While speaking with the tenant, police noticed the smell of marijuana coming from a nearby apartment that was reportedly off-limits to tenants, according to the landlord.
The door of the apartment was missing a deadbolt, and the lights were turned off after being on when deputies arrived.
After receiving permission from the landlord, police entered the apartment and found two men sleeping on the floor. Inside the apartment, investigators located a crowbar, hatcher, bolt cutters, pears, wire cutters and a small saw. A pack of sticky notes was found in the back pocket of one suspect, identified as Nickalos Jackson Wiley.
When asked about the tools, Wiley said he works in construction and uses the tools for plumbing and sticky notes to write down phone numbers.
The second suspect, identified as Christian Tyler Pennea, said he previously lived in the apartment but moved out several weeks ago and came back to retrieve some items left behind, the report said.
Pennea told police his girlfriend works at Hello Fresh and would be coming by at 3 a.m. to take him to his job at Wendy’s. Deputies remained on the scene until 3:43 a.m. and then took Pennea to jail.
A further search of the apartment revealed a number of stolen items including power tools and audio equipment, the report stated.
Authorities were able to contact the owners of the stolen tools and audio equipment who both provided property receipts and retrieved their items from police.
Pennea, 18, and Wiley, 19, were charged with theft by receiving stolen property, criminal attempt to commit a misdemeanor and criminal trespass.
