Soddy-Daisy man arrested for attempting to steal truck
SODDY-DAISY, Tenn. (WDEF) — Hamilton County deputies arrested a Soddy-Daisy man for attempting to steal a truck on Wednesday.
The sheriff’s office received a call of a truck break-in at 7:40 a.m. on the 9800 block of Hamby Road. According to the sheriff’s office, the suspect “removed the ignition switch in an effort to steal the vehicle.”
The victim described the suspect to deputies and the direction he traveled.
Less than 10 minutes later, HCSO deputies found the suspect walking along Hamby Road.
The sheriff’s office identified the suspect at Phillip Branum, 32, of Soddy-Daisy.
Phillip Branum / HCSO
Branum fled on foot and had an altercation with deputies. But they then arrested him and took him to the Hamilton County Jail.
The HCSO charged Branum with the following:
- Attempted auto burglary
- Burglary of auto
- Possession of burglary tools
- Vandalism
- Resisting arrest
Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garret made this statement on the incident:
“For the past three days, your HCSO deputies have been braving frigid temperatures and inclement weather to respond to calls for service across this county in order to keep our community safe during the extreme challenges associated with this winter weather event. While we know crime will never go away, it is extremely infuriating to know that even during a serious weather-related situation such as this, thieves will still choose to victimize others. We should all be looking to our community’s best interest and helping one another rather than endangering the lives of our law enforcement personnel who are working hard to ensure the safety of our citizens. I am proud of our deputies’ actions and our agency’s resiliency responding to this storm and continuing to stop crime across this county.”
