The Brown County Prosecutor’s Office intends to file charges to cover all 44 tires that were slashed on Artist/Wells drives last week.
Suspect Lavelle Albert, 18, of Nashville was booked into the Brown County jail July 29. His preliminary charges included 44 counts of criminal mischief and 27 counts of trespassing, all misdemeanors.
On Aug. 1, the prosecutor’s office filed one official charge of criminal mischief, a Class A misdemeanor.
The charges won’t stop there, Prosecutor Ted Adams said. “We intend on filing 44 counts (of criminal mischief). We have to get them all together. We’re taxed on manpower right now, so we had to get at least one on file to keep him held in jail.”
The prosecutor’s office is in the midst of a murder trial expected to last two weeks.
Albert is still in the Brown County jail on $2,500 bond. The bond will remain the same even if the number of official charges increases, Adams said.
“If he is arrested, we have to have a probable cause finding in 48 hours. We had to get one count on file, which is what happened, then we can accumulate,” he said.
Nashville Police Officer Richard King is gathering more information required for the charges, Adams said.
Twenty-seven victims of tire slashing were counted after police fanned out in the downtown Nashville neighborhood starting around 5 a.m. July 29, said Nashville Police Chief Ben Seastrom.
Wreckers hauling vehicles traveled back and forth constantly for several hours that morning.
