Theft ends with man fatally shot
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
June 9, 2015
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/060915_PS_Reidland_Shooting
A Benton man was fatally shot in the head and another was arrested Monday morning during a confrontation at a Reidland storage unit.
McCracken County Sheriff Jon Hayden said officers arrived at AAA Mini-Storage on Eagles Nest Drive to find Garlon Casey Cox, 30, in the driver's seat of a Ford Ranger pickup truck that had crashed into a storage unit.
Cox had a gunshot wound to the head and was rushed to Lourdes hospital where he died 40 minutes later, the sheriff said.
The shooting was the result of an altercation over items allegedly being stolen from a storage unit, police said.
According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Department, Jeffery Conrad, 49, of Benton, called 911 at about 7 a.m. saying he had caught Cox and another man, 36-year-old Brandon York, with items taken from one of his storage units and confronted them.
"The caller reported that he had gone to this storage facility — he's got units rented there — and he saw two individuals in a Ford Ranger pickup after apparently closing a unit that he knew to be his," Hayden said.
The sheriff said when Conrad got closer to the vehicle, he noticed items from his unit in the bed of the truck.
"(Conrad) confronted them ... and he was armed with a .45-caliber pistol, and he ordered the suspects at gun point to stay put," Hayden said.
Brandon York then took off running, Hayden said, and as York started to run away, Cox allegedly put the truck in reverse and started to drive away before being shot in the head.
"The investigation indicates it was not an accidental discharge, that it was an intentional discharge," Hayden said.
York was later captured after a brief foot pursuit near Old Benton and Tyree roads, about two miles from the storage facility, the sheriff said.
He was charged with third-degree burglary, possession of burglary tools, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia and taken to McCracken County Jail.
Officers searched the pickup truck and, in addition to the stolen items, said they found burglary tools, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Officials said York has previous convictions for attempted possession of a forgery device and theft in Simpson County and was arrested on Feb. 15 in Bowling Green for receiving stolen property and possession of burglary tools. Cox had convictions for theft and giving a false name to police, as well as pending theft charges in Bowling Green.
Hayden said there has been a recent rash of storage unit thefts in the Reidland area, and officials are looking into the possibility that Cox and York were responsible for the offenses.
The sheriff said the shooting investigation is ongoing. No charges have been filed against Conrad in the death of Cox.
"We are trying to discern the facts of exactly what occurred, and we are presenting those facts to the commonwealth attorney as we learn them," Hayden said.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
McCracken County Sheriff Jon Hayden said officers arrived at AAA Mini-Storage on Eagles Nest Drive to find Garlon Casey Cox, 30, in the driver's seat of a Ford Ranger pickup truck that had crashed into a storage unit.
Cox had a gunshot wound to the head and was rushed to Lourdes hospital where he died 40 minutes later, the sheriff said.
The shooting was the result of an altercation over items allegedly being stolen from a storage unit, police said.
According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Department, Jeffery Conrad, 49, of Benton, called 911 at about 7 a.m. saying he had caught Cox and another man, 36-year-old Brandon York, with items taken from one of his storage units and confronted them.
"The caller reported that he had gone to this storage facility — he's got units rented there — and he saw two individuals in a Ford Ranger pickup after apparently closing a unit that he knew to be his," Hayden said.
The sheriff said when Conrad got closer to the vehicle, he noticed items from his unit in the bed of the truck.
"(Conrad) confronted them ... and he was armed with a .45-caliber pistol, and he ordered the suspects at gun point to stay put," Hayden said.
Brandon York then took off running, Hayden said, and as York started to run away, Cox allegedly put the truck in reverse and started to drive away before being shot in the head.
"The investigation indicates it was not an accidental discharge, that it was an intentional discharge," Hayden said.
York was later captured after a brief foot pursuit near Old Benton and Tyree roads, about two miles from the storage facility, the sheriff said.
He was charged with third-degree burglary, possession of burglary tools, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia and taken to McCracken County Jail.
Officers searched the pickup truck and, in addition to the stolen items, said they found burglary tools, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Officials said York has previous convictions for attempted possession of a forgery device and theft in Simpson County and was arrested on Feb. 15 in Bowling Green for receiving stolen property and possession of burglary tools. Cox had convictions for theft and giving a false name to police, as well as pending theft charges in Bowling Green.
Hayden said there has been a recent rash of storage unit thefts in the Reidland area, and officials are looking into the possibility that Cox and York were responsible for the offenses.
The sheriff said the shooting investigation is ongoing. No charges have been filed against Conrad in the death of Cox.
"We are trying to discern the facts of exactly what occurred, and we are presenting those facts to the commonwealth attorney as we learn them," Hayden said.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
