(BEDFORD) – Lawrence County Superior Court I Judge John Plummer II sentenced 20-year-old Taylor Storms, of Bedford, to 10 years in prison on Thursday morning in four burglary cases.
Storms pleaded guilty to burglaries at Ferguson Lee Funeral Home, RL Transmission, the AT&T Store and Apostolic Faith Assembly.
On January 22, 2020, the Bedford Police Department dispatcher received a call from an employee of Ferguson Lee Funeral Home, advising that he had received an alert on his phone that someone is attempting to gain entry into the business and the suspect was still in the building and could be seen on video. Bedford Police officers responded and found the east side door had a broken window. Officers began to clear the building. Police found Storms inside the building and he was arrested.
Police found Storm in possession of a backpack, gloves and a flashlight and several items including a cell phone which was taken from the business during a robbery on January 16, 2020.
Storms told police he had received a phone call from an unknown individual that told him that he needed to go to Ferguson Lee Funeral Home and break into the business. Storms claimed that the unknown individual told him to take all items of value that he found inside and that he should take those items to a location or he would be killed. Storms told police he took the large wrench that was located in his backpack and used it to break the window before reaching in and unlocking the door from the inside. He advised that he began looking for items of value and that he was afraid of getting caught and attempted to leave the business when he was arrested.
Storms was then asked about the previous burglary and he told police he was given the phone from the unknown male.
Storms told police he was on probation from a previous burglary at the AT&T store in Bedford.
On January 15, 2020, at 5:47 a.m. Bedford Police officers were called to RL Transmission on Fifth Street after a report of a burglary. When police arrived they found the employee entrance on the east side of the building had been broken into. A jar of change had been stolen.
After Storms was arrested on January 22, police discovered Storms also had broken into the transmission business. He was wearing the same boots that matched prints that were used during the break-in.
Storms admitted he also had broken into Apostolic Faith Assembly at 501 5th Street. He told police he could not recall what happened because he was intoxicated.
On April 24, 2020 at approximately 11:42 p.m. the Lawrence County Central Dispatch Center was contacted by a member of the jail staff advising that there was an inmate who wished to speak with an officer in reference to a battery that had taken place in the jail.
The inmate told police that while he was taking a shower in the common area of G-Block ramen noodles were stolen from his cell. The inmate went to Storms’ cell and asked him about the missing noodles.
Storms said he didn’t take them. The two then got into a verbal argument. The inmate then asked another inmate if they had seen Storms with the missing noodles. That is when Storms shoved the inmate in the back causing him to fall on a table. The inmate suffered an injured shoulder during the fall. Storms then told the inmate he was going to flush the noodles down the toilet. The inmate went to Storms’ cell and grabbed the remaining noodles before Storms could flush them.
There was another verbal argument and Storms punched him in the left side of the face causing redness and swelling.
Storms denied the allegations but the incidents were caught on security footage.
