What began as a routine criminal mischief call at a Temple H-E-B led to the arrest of convicted felon Justin Hammontree, 24, and Ryan Harkins, 27, both of Copperas Cove, said Skip Carmouche of the Temple Police Depart-ment.
Police responded to a call at 5:03 Wednesday afternoon at the H-E-B store located at 3000 South 31st.
When they arrived, Carmouche said, a witness told police she had watched a white male wearing a white shirt and blue pants break the window of a car in the parking lot. According to the witness, the suspect hopped into the passenger side of a blue four-door 2000 Chevy truck. As the truck drove away on South 31st Street, Carmouche said the witness spotted the driver and described him as a white male wearing a white baseball cap.
A mall security officer saw a vehicle matching the truck’s description in the 3200 block of South 31st and notified police, who tracked the truck to a nearby 7-Eleven convenience store, Carmouche said.
Police identified the passenger as Hammontree and the driver as Harkins.
Carmouche said police discovered Hammontree was on parole for a felony charge and had two outstanding warrants in Bell County for driving while license was invalid and for a class A theft misdemeanor, as well as a warrant in Copperas Cove.
A search of the vehicle yielded two handguns and several purses that did not belong to the men.
One purse belonged to the H-E-B customer whose car window was smashed, and another purse was linked to a burglary at Scott and White Hospital, police said.
Because Hammontree was on parole, Carmouche said he could be charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on top of unlawful carrying of a weapon on licensed premises, burglary of a vehicle and the three outstanding warrants.
Harkins could be charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon on licensed premises and burglary of a vehicle, Carmouche said. Bail has not been set.
More charges could be tacked on by the Bell County Sheriff’s Office because the men are suspects in three cases in Pendleton.
Lt. David Wical said when deputies took reports of damage to the Pendleton Post Office and two tire slashings on June 27 they thought it was an isolated event. When they heard Temple and Troy also were having problems with individuals breaking car windows, spray-painting cars and cutting tires, they connected them.
“When they get done we’ll probably tag on to them,” Wical said about Temple’s case.
Temple Police Department, which caught at least one person in the act, is interviewing four or five suspects, with one being a juvenile, according to Wical.
With the accumulated amounts of damage, Wical said the charges would probably fall into the criminal mischief more than $1,500 less than $20,000 range, which is a state jail felony.
The two men are being held at Bell County Jail.
n Jennifer Sicking contributed to this report
lfrase@temple-telegram.com
