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photo by Marcus Frazier
Sgt. Craig Godbold steps away from the white Nissan Sentra with a pellet gun and bag of pellets that was allegedly used by Anthony D. Tenner, 19, to commit nine counts of felony mischief Tuesday afternoon.
Pellet gun mystery solved
Published Wednesday, July 4, 2007
NATCHEZ — The man who allegedly shot out approximately 80 windows in the Natchez area with a pellet gun is now in police custody.
Anthony D. Tenner, 19, 2139 Second St., was arrested and charged with nine counts of felony criminal mischief Monday night, Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said.
The nine felony charges are for incidents where more than $500 worth of damage was done, Mullins said.
The targets of the pellet gun shootings, which have been taking place since late May, included car windows and display glass of local businesses.
The arrest was made after an 11:30 p.m. traffic stop on Morgantown Road by Officer Nikki Pierce, Sgt. Craig Godbold said.
Pierce noted Tenner’s car — a white Nissan Sentra — matched the description of a car described by several victims of the shootings, Godbold said.
When she approached the car, Pierce noticed a pellet on the floorboard in front of the passenger-side front seat, Godbold said.
She then asked Tenner if she could search the car, and when he opened the door to exit, Pierce noticed a small sack of pellets in the driver-side door pouch, Godbold said.
When Tenner opened the trunk, the gun was in it, Godbold said.
Tenner told police his motivation for the attacks was boredom, Godbold said.
“In his written statement, (Tenner) said he and a couple of others did it because they were bored,” Godbold said. “I wouldn’t say he was just some punk — he’s a college student.”
Tenner has reportedly confessed to the crime, and there are eyewitnesses to collaborate, Mullins said.
The Natchez Police are still actively investigating the case and hope to make several more arrests, Mullins said.
The attacks began May 31, and the police received five complaints as recently as last weekend, Mullins said.
Comments
Posted by murrayjhm (anonymous) on July 4, 2007 at 12:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
First, give thanks to the Natchez Police Dept. for catching the alleged criminal that was shooting out windows in the Natchez area. Hopefully the others involved will be charged also. The Natchez Democrat article had a comment listed from one of the officers stating "I wouldn't say he was just some punk, he's a college student." Well, I would say that is exactly what he is. A punk. Also a criminal, and hopefully soon, a convicted felon. And for Anthony Tenner to make a statement that these acts were done out of boredome shows exactly how much of a punk and criminal that he really is. I could probably accept or understand that statement better if one act was commited by a person and then they realized how bad a mistake they had made and not done it again. But, you are talking about 80 different incidents. They knew they were causing damage to other peoples property at the property owners expense and continued to do it anyway. Some of the local businesses glasses that were shot cost well over $1,000 and from my personal experience by the pellet gun bandit's act of boredom, a back glass on a mini-van runs about $300. 80 incidents at $300 each would be $24,000 worth of damage. I believe this would be a low estimate of the money this has cost our residents and businesses. This doesn't take in account the time, anguish and fear it has caused for some people. If you are bored, get a job or spend your time helping someone out, not by destroying peoples property. This type of "boredome" in Natchez is what we don't need. I know someone who has had their house broken into twice in the last month and my neighbor's car was stolen from their front yard last week. What's wrong with this picture? These types of things are happening more and more around our town. I would hope that when these people are standing in front of a judge that they will be held accountable for their actions. But, somehow I'm afraid that the sentence which will be handed down won't be fitting of the crimes that were committed. A slap on the wrist, probation and no fines I'm sure. What's going to happen the next time these criminals gets bored. Hopefully they won't find a real gun to play with in order to fill their time. Maybe his judge will have had his or her window shot out lately.
Posted by stateofnatchez (anonymous) on July 7, 2007 at 6:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Exactly murrayjhm!!! I don't expect to see anything but sympathy from our local judiciary concerning this incident. Too many bleeding hearts shouting that the community has failed. Unfortunately, only in the midst of an election year is an outcome likely to yield any just results.
And yeah, he is a straight-up spineless punk.
It would be veeeeeeerrry interesting to understand what sort of demographic was victimized. Alcorn University along with LE participation needs to look into this to see if any of this behavior could have been noticed in his study work, extracurricular activities, etc....but don't count on it. Sure we'll see this name again.
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