WRIGHT
FROST
By William Moore
Daily Journal
TUPELO – Two Tennessee men are facing more than 60 years in prison in connection with a string of car burglaries in the mall area Sunday night.
Corterian Wright, 32, of 6520 N. Country Oaks, Memphis; and Mark Frost, 34, of 7295 Eggleston, Memphis; were each charged with nine counts of the burglary of an auto in Lee County Justice Court Wednesday morning. If convicted, the maximum sentence on each charge is 7 years in prison. Wright was also charged with felony fleeing.
Judge Chuck Hopkins set Wright’s bond at $100,000. Bond for Frost is $90,000.
Nearly two dozen vehicles in parking lots in the Mall at Barnes Crossing area had windows smashed and items taken Sunday evening.
“It doesn’t take a lot of time to break a window and go through a car,” said Tupelo Police Capt. Jerry Davis. “We were fortunate that a citizen saw one of the incidents and called 911 with a description of the vehicle.
“Patrol units spotted the vehicle, which fled. After a short pursuit, the vehicle was disabled. They had a blowout and we were able to take them into custody.”
While 22 people reported their cars had been burglarized, not every victim had something stolen.
“These nine counts are ones we know we can connect them to with evidence recovered from their vehicle,” said Davis. “Some folks only had a window broken, which is only malicious mischief, a misdemeanor.
“We’ll work with the prosecutor and those charges could be added when it goes to the grand jury.”
Police were first alerted to the crimes when a customer in the Barnes Crossing Burger King drive-thru heard a loud noise around 11:30 p.m. and noticed a black male entering a Ford pickup in the parking lot of Applebee’s next door. The witness told police the suspect jumped into a gray Infiniti SUV and drove away.
In addition to Applebee’s, cars were targeted in the parking lots of the Fairfield Inn on Tom Watson Drive, the Best Western on North Gloster Street and the Hampton Inn on Carter Cove. Of the 22 burglaries reported to police by Monday afternoon, two guns were stolen, along with a wallet, a phone, speakers, a computer and less than $200 in cash.
william.moore@journalinc.com
