A Carroll County man was arrested for a pair of break-ins in Harrison, and a second suspect is being sought in one of the incidents. According to the Harrison Daily Times, 20-year-old Austin Blackston of Green Forest has been in the Boone County Jail since he was arrested Monday.
Blackston was first arrested as a suspect in a residential break-in reported Monday morning, but according to Harrison Police Chief Paul Woodruff, he was later identified as a suspect in a break-in reported a half hour earlier at Winkler Logistics. A caller said video surveillance showed two male subjects at the business on Cottonwood Road entering several buildings in the complex. Woodruff said officers found tools in bags collected from around the building but left behind.
Nearly a half hour later, a woman told authorities she went into the garage at her residence on Cottonwood Road and found a male subject sleeping in the back seat, and she "ran him off with a gun." Officers located Blackston walking in the area when they responded to the scene, and they took him into custody for the purpose of identification. When they drove up to the woman's residence, Blackston told an officer she was the one who woke him up that morning.
Blackston was arrested for residential burglary and breaking or entering, but detectives investigating at Winkler Logistics asked patrol officers to detain him since the two incidents happened in close proximity. Detectives identified Blackston as one of the suspects on Winkler surveillance footage, and he admitted to being in the building Sunday night with another subject. Blackston says the other suspect told him to go to a friend's house nearby where he would be safe, but he went to the wrong house and crawled in the back of the homeowner's car to sleep.
Blackston is also suspected in burglaries of vehicles at Distribution Solutions, Inc. The Harrison Daily Times reports his bond is set at $155,000. Chief Woodruff says he expects the second suspect to be arrested soon.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI