Nashville’s ‘Most Wanted’: Alleged guitar thief arrested after string of burglaries
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — After reportedly stealing multiple musical instruments, including a rare guitar, in a string of storage unit thefts, one of Nashville’s “Most Wanted” fugitives is now behind bars.
Honold Scott Bilbrey, 40, was wanted on several outstanding warrants, including two counts of nonresidential burglary, two counts of burglary, four counts of theft of property, burglary of a motor vehicle, and vandalism, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department.
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Those charges are in addition to a long list of prior burglary offenses out of neighboring jurisdictions. Bilbrey was featured on the police department’s “Top 10 Most Wanted” list multiple times over the past month before his arrest on Wednesday, Nov. 8.
The string of alleged crimes in Nashville began in August, when sometime between Aug. 13 and Aug. 21, Bilbrey went into a Guitar Center on Thompson Lane and exchanged several stolen items for cash, according to an arrest affidavit.
Investigators said the total amount of cash Bilbrey received for the items is estimated at $777. Each time he exchanged an item for cash, authorities said Bilbrey willingly provided his Tennessee driver’s license.
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Only a few days later, between Aug. 22 and Aug. 24, a man reported a strange encounter with Bilbrey at the same Guitar Center. The man told police he saw Bilbrey holding a unique guitar that looked just like one he owned.
When he asked Bilbrey where he got the guitar, the man said he claimed that “he got it after a family member died,” according to an affidavit. After leaving the store, the man reportedly noticed that the lock to his storage unit had been replaced by a lock that did not belong to him.
Once he was able to get inside the storage unit, he saw that several of his guitars and musical instruments had been stolen, police reported. Investigators said they later learned that Bilbrey had been selling the man’s stolen instruments at several different pawn shops in Nashville.
However, the alleged crimes continued into September, when around 6:55 p.m. on Sept. 10, police said Bilbrey followed a driver into a secured parking lot at Mini Storage Depot off of Antioch Pike.
Once inside the lot, Bilbrey reportedly went to the person’s storage unit, cut the lock and stole multiple items totaling around $1,300. He then used a key that he found in the storage unit to enter the victim’s truck and steal a drill worth $200, officials said.
After leaving the area, police said Bilbrey went to a Walmart on Nolensville Pike and tried to buy $829 worth of items with the victim’s debit card, but the sale was declined. Bilbrey left the store, but reportedly returned a few minutes later to sell the person’s iPhone at an ecoATM machine.
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Police said they were able to identify Bilbrey as a suspect using security footage from the Mini Storage Depot, Walmart and ecoATM, along with the Tennessee driver license Bilbrey provided to the ecoATM.
Bilbrey was booked into jail after his arrest on Wednesday, Nov. 8 and as of Thursday, Nov. 9, he remained behind bars with a $21,000 bond. He has previously faced burglary charges out of Franklin, Ashland City and Knox County.
With Bilbrey’s arrest, at least 78, or about 70%, of Nashville’s “Most Wanted” fugitives have been taken into custody over the last year. Officials largely attribute the high arrest rate to tips from the public. Click here to see this week’s list of suspects.
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