MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A man with a long rap sheet tried to burglarize a Whitehaven townhouse Sunday afternoon with a teenage girl inside.
Memphis Police said it was Reginald Johnson’s birthday when he broke into the home on Vandergreen inside the Charter Oaks Apartments on Sunday.
“It’s shocking,” said one neighbor who did not want to be identified.
Police said the female was who inside the townhouse called her brother and told him she thought someone was in their house, and he told her to hide in an upstairs closet.
Police said when the brother got home, he found Johnson in his mother’s bedroom and was able to physically hold him until officers got there.
“I just saw the police. I said, what is going on over there,” said the neighbor.
Police said Johnson tried to make a run for it but was caught after a short foot chase.
They say he was already facing a slew of charges from nearly a half dozen other burglaries over the last three years.
After this, neighbors in the apartment complex said they are adding more security to their homes or moving.
Those living in the neighborhood next to the apartment complex said they were also alarmed by what happened.
“We are very aware that so much crime is occurring in Memphis, and we never know how close it is to be to our homes,” said a woman who lives in the neighborhood.
Johnson is being held on a nearly $200,000 bond. He will go before a judge on Tuesday.