Metro Nashville police said they knew something was suspicious when they saw a man carrying a flashlight and wearing a hoodie in Tuesday's record high temperatures. They later learned that he allegedly broke into a vehicle in a South Nashville neighborhood.
Officers on patrol on Tampa Drive said they saw Tahylor Howard-Johnson inside the vehicle, with a flashlight Tuesday.
According to an arrest report, they ran the tag on the vehicle, which supplied officers with the photo of its owner. That photo did not match Howard-Johnson.
When police approached Howard-Johnson, they said he was "sweating profusely" and wearing a hoodie over his head. The arrest report said the temperature was 71 degrees at the time.
When Howard-Johnson told officers who he was, they said he began to run away through backyards. Officers said they attempted to get him to stop multiple times, and he eventually stopped when one officer pointed a taser at him.
Officers said Howard-Johnson had a bag of Oreo cookies in his pocket. The cookies were reported stolen by the owner of the vehicle that Howard-Johnson was initially spotted in.
Howard-Johnson was charged with burglary of a motor vehicle and booked into jail.
According to Metro Nashville Police Department crime statistics, there have been 422 cars reported stolen in 2018. That's up 42 percent from last year. Looking back to 2014, there had only been 108 vehicles reported stolen, which means the number of vehicle thefts is up 300 percent over four years.
Police said the easiest way to keep your belongings safe is by making sure you lock your car doors. Many times, burglars are able to gain access to your vehicles easily because doors are left unlocked.
Of the vehicles stolen in 2018, 181 of them were left running at the time.
