Police have issued an arrest warrant for a man who provided a check cashing business his personal information before attempting to cash an allegedly stolen check.
According to a police report, on Saturday officers responded to Cash Express on Ringgold Road on a “theft in progress” call. When police arrived they spoke with a clerk at the store who told them that a man came in trying to cash a check. The man got out of a cream-colored car driven by another man.
The man filled out all the appropriate paperwork required to cash the check. His information included his name, Burless Hayworth, address, social security number and telephone number. The report states that police verified this information on the man through a criminal justice data base.
The clerk told police that the check was drawn on a First Tennessee Bank account belonging to a local drug halfway house. Keeping with company policy, the clerk called the bank to verify that funds to cash the check were available. According to the report, the First Tennessee clerk told the Cash Express employee not to cash the check, as they had been reported as stolen.
The report states that the clerk tried to stall the suspect to stay in the store until police arrived, but he went out the door and left on foot. The car that the suspect arrived in took off.
According to the report, police contacted the halfway house that reported the check as stolen. A representative of the business came to Cash Express and verified that the check was indeed one from his business. The report states that the halfway house representative told police that Hayworth never worked for them and has no idea who the man is.
The report states that police are waiting on surveillance video from Cash Express in an attempt to identify the man who was driving the cream-colored car. The report states that police believe the driver of the car is an employee of the halfway house.
_ 3500 block Ringgold Rd.: On Friday, a police officer on patrol was flagged down by a citizen who told the officer that the front door of Mr. Zip appeared to have been shattered and that someone may have entered the business.
According to a police report, the officer responded to Mr. Zip at 3326 Ringgold Rd. and saw that the door had been shattered. Police saw a large rock on the floor just inside the business. Shelves inside the business that contained tobacco products had been rummaged through. The owner of the business was contacting and he came to the scene. Police reviewed surveillance footage showing a man in camouflage pants and jacket throwing the rock just after midnight. He then jumped over the counter and began taking packs of cigarettes off the shelves and stuffing them into a backpack.
The report states that the suspect is believed to be the same man from a previous burglary at the business on July 18. Police advised the owner that the store’s burglar alarm was not activated during the incident. The owner said he did not understand why because it was repaired after the burglary on July 18.
According to the report, the value of the cigarettes stolen was placed at $1,000. There is no further suspect information at the time of the report.
_ 3322 Ringgold Rd.: Police were called to the address on Thursday regarding vandalism and theft from the car wash business located there. According to a report, police spoke with the owner of the business who told them that he reviewed surveillance video showing that at 1:39 a.m. a four-door Buick pulled through the bay and parked. A white male got out and walked to the control box and drilled into the locking mechanism, removeing the money drawer. The man was accompanied by a white female.
The owner told police that the cash drawer was at capacity and the thief likely made off with $150 cash.
In a separate report from the same night, police were called to 6726 Ringgold Rd., the location of a self-serve ice machine business. When officers arrived they located a large chain covered in mud and a flashlight lying next to the ice machine. The metal bracket used to secure the door to the machine had been pried off and there was extensive damage to the machine itself.
According to the report, the suspects were unable to steal any money from the cash box.
A witness from across the street told officers that he saw a black, four-door Buick LeSabre pull next to the machine at about 2 a.m. A white man and white woman got out of the car and did something to the ice machine. They got back in the car and drove to the far end of the parking lot before driving away.
The report states that the vehicle matches the description of the one associated with the car wash theft. The car may be a 2002 model Buick. Police are attempting to obtain video surveillance of the incident from a nearby business.
