Two men were arrested after a homeowner returned Tuesday morning to find them near a Chevrolet pickup backed up to his garage, one who was holding his leaf blower, according to a Bowie County Sheriff's Office spokesman.
A deputy found the pair about 3 miles away, but one fled on foot as he approached the vehicle, Chief Deputy Jeff Neal said. A multiagency search resulted in the arrest of the second man several hours later, he said.
Sean Reynolds left his house Tuesday morning to go to the store, Neal said. About 9:30 a.m., Reynolds returned to the 400 block of Clara Sorsby Lane to find a Chevrolet truck he didn't recognize backed up to his garage.
"As he got closer to his driveway, he noticed (two men) that he did not know standing by this truck," Neal said. The homeowner also reported that his garage door was halfway open.
Reynolds told police he confronted one of the men-later identified as William Jason Alison, 34, of Nash, Texas-who he found holding his leaf blower.
"He confronted (Alison), who sat the leaf blower down and told him that someone had told him he could come borrow it," Neal said.
Reynolds told both Alison and the other suspect-later identified as Bobby Ray Turner, 44, of Texarkana, Texas-that he was calling the police, Neal said.
"(Alison) begged him not to make the call and then the two got in the truck to leave," Neal said. "He stopped the truck once more in a last desperate attempt to get Reynolds not to call the police before leaving the area."
Neal said the homeowner snapped a photo of the truck and license plate before it was gone, and Deputy Nick Moses found the truck down a cleared powerline pathway off Clear Springs Road about 3 miles from Reynolds' home.
"As (Moses) approached this truck, (Turner) took off running on foot," Neal said. "Deputy Moses was able to arrest Alison."
A perimeter was set up around where Turner was last seen by county deputies with the help of Nash Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety, Neal said. Eventually, the canine unit from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Telford Unit was requested to search the area.
Turner was found by law enforcement officials several hours later.
"Additional property stolen from Reynolds' home was located in the truck," Neal said.
"This property was recovered and returned to its rightful owner," he added.
Both men were booked into the Bi-State Justice Building jail for burglary of a habitation and await bond.