Alleged thief fled down McCall Drive, just north of Ashland Street; police say they arrested him the next day
By Bert Etling, Ashland.news
A man seen breaking into a car parked at an Ashland residence who drew a gun when confronted by the vehicle owner on Wednesday was arrested Thursday, police said in a news release issued Friday.
Ashland and Talent police responded to the incident in the 2300 block of McCall Drive, off Clay Street just north of Ashland Street near the Miller Paint store, at about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, the report said. The vehicle owner told police he saw someone removing items from his vehicle and confronted the man, who then drew a handgun on the victim and told him to back away, then fled the area on foot, taking the man’s property with him.
Security camera recordings retrieved from an area business on Thursday allowed Ashland Police officers to identify the suspect as Phoenix Braun, 20, who they said is an Ashland-area transient.
He was arrested without incident and booked into Jackson County Jail on charges of robbery in the first degree, criminal mischief in the second degree, theft in the second degree and unlawfully entering a motor vehicle.
Braun remained in jail as of Friday afternoon with bail set at $115,000.
Court records show Braun had two prior cases filed against him in 2021, one involving misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and criminal mischief, and the other a felony charge of an attempt to commit a Class C unclassified felony.
The latter, according to a probable cause affidavit, involves an incident at the Blue Giraffe Spa on May 29 in which officers responded to a report someone was trying to open a window in the treatment room from the outside while a client was getting a massage, and that the person outside had picked up a rock. On arrival, the affidavit says, officers arrested the person with the rock, Braun, who had been charging his phone with a cord plugged into the building. Braun denied he had been trying to enter the building. Court records show he was due to appear in court today, April 29, in that case.
Police reports say the disorderly conduct charge involves an incident on Aug. 2 near the intersection of Water Street and North Main Street when a caller reported a male was yelling at a female and kicked her van as she drove away. A witness said a shirtless male with an orange afro was yelling and chasing a female on the street, and kicked her van when she drove away. Police located a male matching the description nearby and took him into custody.
Braun was convicted of that charge on Dec. 15 and sentenced to 18 months probation, told not to have contact with the female victim, and was ordered to report for a five-day jail term on Jan. 18.
Email Ashland.news Executive Editor Bert Etling at betling@ashland.news or call or text him at 541-631-1313.
