SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — Deputies say an accused robber trying to break into a Southwind-area apartment barricaded himself inside for hours and tried to flood the place after the resident spotted him on surveillance video and called law enforcement.
Edward Jones, 49, was in custody Friday afternoon after Shelby County deputies were called to a the Preserve at Southwind Apartments.
According to a police affidavit, a resident in the 3800 block of Tamarron Court called dispatch around 12:30 after he spotted someone on camera trying to break in.
Deputies say they caught the Jones as he was opening the apartment door and told him to put his hands up. Instead, he locked the door and tried to escape out a back window, but was blocked by a deputy who grabbed his leg.
Several apartments were evacuated out of precaution, SCSO said, as negotiators and SWAT deputies responded to the scene near Hacks Cross and Bill Morris Parkway.
At one point during the three-hour standoff, authorities saw water coming out of the apartment, indicating Jones was intentionally trying to flood it. The flood caused an estimated $8,000 in damage.
Deputies eventually got in and found him hiding under the kitchen sink, they said.
When deputies reviewed surveillance footage, they saw Jones taking 16 long guns and handguns out of the apartment to steal them, they said.
They also said he was driving a Dodge vehicle that was stolen from the Memphis Police Department on April 3.
“Suspect Jones is known to Deputies and has a lengthy criminal history which includes felony convictions,” officers stated in the report.
Jones is in the Shelby County jail on charges of burglary, theft, vandalism and a weapons charge.
