A man has been sentenced to a month in jail after he was caught on camera burglarizing a home and then tried to outrun police on a bicycle.
The suspect, Chancy E. Smith, 28, entered guilty pleas to charges of theft and evading arrest and was directed by General Sessions Judge Bill Locke to serve 30 days of an 11-month, 29-day sentence. Charges of aggravated burglary and violating an order of protection were dismissed as a result of his plea bargain.
The charges were lodged after the homeowner returned home to find his door had been forced open. He then noticed his security camera was missing. However, it had already recorded a video that showed the suspect inside the house around 4 p.m.
Deputy Trevor Young, after viewing the video, found there was an active order of protection against Smith and a person who resided at the house he allegedly broke into, meaning he was in violation of the order when he broke in.
“I was en route to an address where Smith was known to stay when I observed a male on a bicycle come at my patrol car,” deputy Young said, noting the person on the bike looked like the man he had just seen on the video. “I attempted to stop him and he started to go faster.”
The suspect turned into a driveway on Kennedy Circle, tossed his bike and ran into the woods on foot. He was later captured.