BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
LOVELY — Police arrested a West Virginia man Friday morning on North Wolf Creek Road in Lovely thwarting his attempted garage burglary.
Martin County Sheriff John Kirk arrested Tyler Hayes, 32, of Fort Gay, West Virginia, on a charge of theft by unlawful taking or disposition valued between $1,000 and $10,000.
The investigation began around 7:15 a.m. when the sheriff responded to a call from a woman convinced her garage was being looted. The residence at 3901 North Wolf Creek Road became the center of a rather tense showdown.
“She said she felt someone was breaking into her garage,” Sheriff Kirk recounted. “Her son was on his way to try and block them in until I could get there.”
Homeowner Amber Spicer, earlier that morning at her workplace, had told the sheriff that a guest staying the night — her friend’s boyfriend — might have had a little more than sleep on his mind.
“She thought he’d been eyeing items in the garage the day before,” Kirk added.
Sure enough, after Spicer left for work, her security camera pinged just after 4 a.m., catching Hayes in the act. While Hayes’ vehicle blocked the camera’s view of the door, the camera captured Hayes loitering outside the garage, his car parked next to it. The camera also captured audio of Hayes shuffling items around inside the garage.
By the time Kirk arrived on the scene, Spicer’s son, Jacob Arbogast, had taken matters into his own hands—blocking Hayes’ car in the driveway with his truck.
“He told [Hayes] to open his trunk, saying if it was empty, he’d let him go. But the son wasn’t letting him leave until the cops got there,” Kirk explained.
Sensing hesitation—and uncertain whether Hayes was armed—Kirk drew his gun and told Hayes to exit the vehicle. Once Hayes popped the trunk it was game over. The trunk was loaded with various stolen tools, ranging from Dewalt to Snap-On.
All of the tools belonged to the homeowner’s son, passed down from his late stepfather, Kirk explained.
Hayes, confronted with the evidence, reportedly fessed up.
“He admitted to taking the tools,” said the sheriff, adding that Hayes confessed to smoking marijuana earlier that morning before deciding to make a little trip to the garage. “He said he was going to keep the tools for his personal use.”
The camera, it turns out, was a hero.
“It’s good she had that camera that notified her,” Kirk concluded.
The sheriff took Hayes into custody and had his vehicle towed for evidence.