MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Dedrick Mays says he feels violated after catching a neighbor trying to steal his flatscreen TV Tuesday.
He says he was doing yard work in the front yard of his home on Vanuys near South Highland when he needed an extension cord and went to the backyard.
That’s when he discovered Mario Williams coming out of his house, standing on his back porch with the TV in his hands.
To Mays’ shock, Williams told him he had just stopped someone trying to burglarize Mays’ house.
Mays says he scuffled with Williams, who ran away but was later arrested three houses west of Mays’ house.
Williams, 19, is charged with aggravated burglary and theft.
Mays is upset because he’s known Williams for several years, paid him for odd jobs and even fixed burgers for him.
Mays, who repairs bicycles for kids in the neighborhood, says the back door was unlocked and Williams came through a small open area in the fence.
Mays says he won’t judge everyone by what Williams did and it doesn’t shake his faith in mankind.
A woman who answered the door at Mario Williams’ home didn’t want to go on camera.
