Palestine Police arrest burglary suspect
Nov. 1—The Palestine Police Department is investigating a weekend burglary that led to the arrest of a Palestine man.
James Weatherford, 66, was arrested on the charge of burglary of a building after he was found inside Kim's #3 convenience store in the early morning hours of Saturday, Oct. 29.
According to Chief Mark Harcrow, just after 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning, officers responded to a burglary alarm at Kim's #3 in the 2300 block of W. Oak.
Harcrow said Cpl. Nathan Perkins arrived at the store and observed a male inside of the store. Perkins moved towards the back door as the man was exiting the building. Perkins made contact with the man, who was later identified as Weatherford, who was holding a crowbar in one hand and a knife in the other. Harcrow said Perkins ordered Weatherford to drop the crowbar and knife and he did.
Harcrow said Weatherford was taken into custody without incident.
Harcrow said further investigation revealed Weatherford set off the alarm when entering the store, and while in the store he attempted to break into the store's ATM machine.
Harcrow said Weatherford was transported to the Anderson County Jail and booked on the burglary charge, as well as an outstanding warrant for violation of probation on a charge of possession of a controlled substance, penalty group three 28g to 200g.
"I commend Cpl. Perkins and assisting officers for their quick response and catching this suspect before he could get away," Harcrow said. "We respond to a lot of burglary alarms, most of which are false alarms. This is a good example that officers never know what they are going to find when they arrive to these calls."
