Salem man arrested for burglary, theft and resisting

Philip Purlee, Jr., 39, Salem, was arrested on Monday, Oct. 21, after officers found him taking items from a cousin’s home.

Just before 6:30 a.m., Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Lucas Gray was dispatched to a home on North Heritage Chapel Road in reference to a possible burglary in progress. A neighbor called to say someone who wasn’t supposed to be there was there and he couldn’t get in touch with the property owners.

Gray arrived and saw Purlee coming from the barn and shed area located to the west of the roadway. In his report, Gray said Purlee claimed he was just checking on the property, which is now owned by his cousin, Jason Porter. He said he had permission to be there and knew the neighbor watched the home as well.

The neighbor called Purlee’s father, who said Purlee should not be there “and was probably taking things without permission.” Gray asked Purlee if he had any ID and Purlee went to his car, a blue Chevy Tahoe. As they were walking to the vehicle, Purlee told Gray he “pretty much lives in the vehicle” and quickly opened and shut the front passenger door, telling Gray he had no ID.

As Purlee began walking back toward the roadway, Gray told him to wait. He’d noticed the fence gate next to Purlee’s vehicle was open and asked him why. Purlee replied Gray should ask the neighbor because “he watches the place.” Then Purlee continued walking away and Gray told him to stop. Through the windows of the vehicle, Gray said he could see multiple tools and landscaping equipment including a weed eater, pitchfork, gardening hoe and other items. Under the porch of the barn, there were more items scattered around. The locking mechanism on the shed appeared ot be broken and the door was partially open, though it looked to Gray like someone had lifted the steps leading up to the shed doors and moved them in an attempt to keep the doors shut. Gray also noticed the ground around the base of the steps appeared to be freshly broken, like the steps had just been moved.

Gray said in his report he told Purlee he thought Purlee had just taken the items he’d seen in the vehicle from the barn and shed. Purlee denied it. The neighbor told Gray he had talked to Porter on the phone and Porter was on his way. He also said Porter told him Purlee did not have permission to be on the property or to take anything. Gray said the neighbor looked in the Tahoe’s windows and said he recognized items as belonging to the property’s previous owner. Gray put Purlee in handcuffs.

The neighbor stayed outside to wait for Porter while Gray went inside to check the house and barn in case anyone else was on the property, as the neighbor had reported seeing a light on in the house that had since been turned off before Gray arrived. The front and back doors of the house were unlocked, but Gray didn’t find anyone inside. The barn was also unlocked.

Purlee said the items in his vehicle weren’t taken from the propery, saying he used the tools for work, but when asked about specific items that didn’t look like they’d been used recently, he said he had taken those from the property, but that Porter had previously told him it was OK for him to take them. He said an axe, a blue tool bag, the pitch fork and an old wooden crate were all taken from the property. He’d been able to just walk into the shed, the lock for which was already broken. He claimed he’d gone in the house to use the restroom and had been on the property for a few hours and that the back door had already been unlocked.

Sheriff’s Captain Joe Keltner arrived, along with Porter. Porter explained the property had been passed down to him after his parents’ death a few months ago. He said he’d been at the property the previous Monday and the house, barn and shed doors had all been locked. He said Purlee didn’t have permission to be there and he wanted to press charges. Purlee spoke to Porter and told him he knew he should have asked permission to take the items.

Porter said he recognized all of the items in the Tahoe as having belonged to his parents.

As officers walked Purlee to Keltner’s police vehicle, Purlee became upset and began yelling for Porter, who had gone inside the house, then quickly ran after him into the house. Gray pursued him, yelling for him to stop, but he ignored Gray. Gray said Purlee ran into the front door and fell over on the porch, stating that “he could not get stopped.” He was reapprehended and taken to the Washington County Detention Center.

Purlee was preliminarily charged with theft (Level 6 felony), burglary (Level 5 felony) and resisting law enforcement (Class A misdemeanor).

Porter identified several household items and landscaping equipment taken from the property, including a broom, a sleep maske Porter said was his mother’s from the bedroom, bottles of glass cleaner, storage tins, pillows from the bedroom, a shower head, a folded American flag, a leather jacket, two gallon-sized Ziploc bags containing medications prescribed to Porter’s mother, crossbows, a pair of ruby earrings, car batteries, tools, decorative signs, engine parts and many other items, all of which were photographed for evidence then released back to Porter.

Later, dispatchers informed Gray they had received a delayed response on the Chevy Tahoe’s VIN and told him the vehicle had also been reported stolen out of Jeffersonville.