Brown County Sheriff’s officials report that a tip led law enforcement to a residence in Albany where two runaway teens were apprehended on Monday evening.
Brown County dispatchers received a tip in which the caller reported seeing the boys coming out of a house in Albany, which was reported to officials in Shackleford County. The two teens were arrested in Shackleford County Monday night and face multiple charges in Brown County and caused law enforcement to mount a search for the boys most of the day Monday near Lake Brownwood. The teens reportedly ran away from New Horizons Ranch in Mills County last Thursday.
The two juvenile boys are suspects in several crimes committed while they were on the run. They face two charges that are yet to be filed in Mills County, according to Sgt. Lana Guthrie of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office. The teens allegedly stole an all-terrain vehicle which they used for transportation out of Mills County and later wrecked in Brown County. A stolen shotgun in Mills County was also suspected to be in the boys’ possession during the time they were on the run. Once in Brown County, the boys were suspects of a burglary at the Country Store, a convenience store in Brownwood, where a break in had occurred and items were stolen from the store. Brown County Sheriff’s Office reports indicate that the Country Store was burglarized around 3:30am Monday. The report states that a video recording of the incident identified the two juveniles as being the runaways from New Horizons Ranch.
They were later reported to have crashed the ATV into a fence line and were running on foot when law enforcement began a ground and aerial search for the two along Hwy 279. A property owner advised police that he chased the two male subjects off of his property.
The final crime the two are suspected in is the theft of a vehicle from a residence not far from the search area on Hwy 279. The vehicle was reported stolen around 6:00pm when the owner came home to find her white Toyota Camry missing from the driveway of her residence. A short time later, the deputy investigating the vehicle theft was informed that the two runaway juveniles were located in Shackleford County in the stolen vehicle.
The owner of the vehicle also reported that it appeared someone had entered her home through a window and stole several items including a laptop, camera, and two cell phones. The items were located in the vehicle when the two boys were apprehended, according to the report.
Wednesday, the teens will be transported to Brown County where they will face charges filed in Brown County, including burglary of a habitation, burglary of a building and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle according to BCSO officials. They will face additional charges in Mills County as well. BCSO investigator Scott Byrd is heading up the investigation.
See previous story for additional information.
