A man caught red-handed burglarizing a woman’s home has been sentenced to eight months in jail.The burglar, Michael Brandon Cowell, 32, was ordered by Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to serve eight months of a seven-year sentence after he entered guilty pleas to charges of aggravated burglary, grand theft, and felony vandalism.His sentence comes after he was caught burglarizing a home on Old Morrison Road late last year in the West Riverside neighborhood.“She arrived home to find him there, a man she knew to be Michael Brandon Colwell,” said McMinnville police officer Toby Lewis in his report. “He left the apartment out the back door while she was in the house.”The suspect was picked up a few minutes later by officer Katelyn Neal who recognized him from the all-points bulletin issued for him.“She placed him in the back of her patrol car and drove him back to the house,” Lewis explained, noting the homeowner positively identified Cowell as the man she caught burglarizing her home.An inventory of the apartment revealed two TVs, numerous DVDs and a microwave were missing. The officer noted Colwell had a strong odor of alcohol on his person at the time of his arrest and was also unsteady on his feet.The charge of public intoxication was dropped as part of the plea bargain.
Cowell given eight months for burglary