Teenager arrested over car burglaries near Bonny Oaks Drive
An 18-year-old Chattanooga man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly burglarized a string of unlocked cars, stealing cash and a handgun.
Hunter Hanks was arrested Wednesday in the 4200 block of Bonny Oaks Drive after officers were notified of a suspicious man walking around in the area.
Officers found Hanks walking north. When they asked him to remove his hands from his pockets, an officer noticed a holstered firearm on his hip, according to arrest records.
The handgun was a Glock 43 that had been reported stolen out of a car in the 2300 block of Waterhaven Drive earlier that day. Five other car burglaries were also reported on the same street within a few blocks of each other.
Two of the victims reported nothing had been stolen, but they said it seemed clear someone had been through the vehicle looking for something. The other three victims said someone had rummaged through their belongings and stolen $20$30 from each of them.
At the time of his arrest, Hanks was in possession of $142 in cash, $14.50 in change, as well as two cellphones and a wallet that have not been claimed.
Police noted Hanks lives approximately 1.4 miles from the location of the burglaries and there is a short path from between it and his home, which is well within walking distance.
“In my experience as a police officer … I have seen a pattern in which car burglars will walk the neighborhoods looking for unlocked car doors,” one of the responding officers wrote at the end of the report.