News

K-9 sniffs out burglar

Clifton Brandon Tate

By Bill Moss, Published: May 30, 2013

A police dog sniffed out a burglar hiding in a basement crawl space, leading to the man's arrest on a felony break-in  charge.

Henderson County dispatchers sent deputies to a reported breaking and entering in progress located in the Whispering Hills Drive area between Hendersonville and Fletcher. A neighbor had witnessed a white male, approximately six feet tall with a pony tail, slide open a window on the rear of a residence and enter, a report said.

The first responding deputy arrived on scene and spotted the man inside the residence. As other deputies and members of the Fletcher Police Department arrived, they secured a perimeter around the residence. After speaking with a neighbor, it was determined the homeowner was out of town, and that no innocent persons should be inside the home. After numerous attempts to call the suspect out on the public address system from the officer's patrol vehicle, a K-9 team with back-up was sent into the residence.

After clearing the main floor, officers proceeded into the basement area. Within moments the dog alerted on a crawl space and the suspect, Clifton Brandon Tate, 29. He was arrested and charged with felonious breaking and entering with the intent to commit larceny. Tate admitted to breaking into the residence in an attempt to steal medication, the sheriff's department said in a news release. He was released on a $10,000 bond.