A Brown County woman has been charged in the July 20 burglary of the BP gas station in Nashville.

This week, the Brown County Prosecutor’s Office lodged charges of Class C felony burglary and Class D felony theft against 24-year-old Crescentia Lynn Horton of Homestead Road.

A probable cause affidavit filed on Aug. 7 states that an investigation by Town Marshal Stephanie Hess of the Nashville Police Department linked Horton to the crime. Hess spoke with a former employee who stated that Horton, her daughter, had recently flushed her store key down the toilet.

When confronted, Horton initially admitted to breaking into the gas station shortly after midnight on July 20. Further questioning, according to the affidavit, revealed that Horton did not break into the business alone. She told Hess that she had a man who was trying to date her use the key to enter the front door before letting her in through the back door.

The affidavit states that the man rode his bicycle into Nashville and met Horton behind the old Taco Bell building. Video surveillance captured a person dressed in black entering the front door. Horton told Hess that she directed the man while she stayed out of view of the cameras.

Hess reported that Horton took cigarettes and the man took an undisclosed amount of cash.

“She (Horton) refused to tell who the man was,” the affidavit states.

Police arrested Horton on July 27, but she bonded out early the next morning so the prosecution did not need to produce a probable cause affidavit until her initial hearing on Aug. 7. Between the arrest and the first court date, Hess could not be reached for comment on the case.

At the hearing, a judge appointed public defender Andrew Szakaly to represent Horton. A jury trial was set for Oct. 31.

-- Kevin Lilly, Brown County Democrat