Neighbors help solve string of East Memphis car burglaries - Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

Neighbors help solve string of East Memphis car burglaries

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MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) – Many people would never do what an 18-year-old neighbor did in the Miller's Pond community of East Memphis.

"I commend Brent for being a brave guy," said neighbor Scott Gentry.

18-year-old Brent King, a college student, jumped into his Ford Mustang just as Memphis Police say Jason Brown was trying to steal it, or things from it.

"Well, I mean, I really needed my car," said King.

King said Brown jumped out and ran after a brief struggle.

"He looked pretty scared actually, when I got in," said King.

The commotion woke up Gentry.

"And I was like what happened?" recalled Gentry.  "And he told me and I said did he have a gun? He said no and I said thank goodness he didn't."

Police believe Brown also broke into Gentry's car and up to 20 others in the gated neighborhood over the last two weeks. Turns out, Brown lived there too.

"Several months ago when he moved out here, I actually helped him get a plumbing job," said neighbor Mike Divoky.  "Because he told me he knew the plumbing trade."

Divoky knew the suspect was Brown after hearing Brent King's description and that of another neighbor.

"And I immediately sent the detective working on the case the guy's name," said Divoky.  "Cause I knew it from the plumbing job he had done. And we got him."

It's a community that doesn't even have an "official" neighborhood watch, but working together solved a crime.  At last check, Jason Brown was being held on a $50,000 bond.

Copyright 2013 WMC-TV. All rights reserved.


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