Man charged with breaking into church
Sep. 30—Cumberland County sheriff's deputies responding to a burglary alarm at a rural church found a man hiding behind brush on the edge of the property with a duffel bag full of items taken from the building.
Justin Ryan Brown, 24, 764 Buffalo Valley Rd., is charged with burglary and criminal trespassing in connection with the incident that occurred last Friday afternoon.
Deputies were dispatched to Grace Baptist Church in the 3300 block of Pomona Rd. around shortly after 3:30 p.m. and found a window at the rear of the church open. Beneath the window was recovered some items, according to Deputy Thomas Moore's report.
The pastor of the church was contacted, and while deputies waited for him to respond, they found a bicycle behind the church and a man trying to hide from the officers.
Deputy Bobby Moore and Henderson took the man into custody and advised the suspect of his rights, which the man waived. The suspect then gave deputies the duffel bag containing items that had been taken from the church.
Because of previous incidents at the church, Brown had been banned from the property which led to the criminal trespassing charge.
Brown was processed at the Justice Center, placed under $2,500 bond and was assigned an appearance date in General Sessions Court.
Michael Moser may be reached at mmoser@crossville-chronicle.com
