This little piggy went to jail

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Couple arrested for burglary after using a canoe to break in to residences.

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  • John Waldman and Holli Tull were arrested for two counts of Second-Degree Burglary. They were paddling up to boat docks in the dark, then paddling back out with the residents’ belongings.
    John Waldman and Holli Tull were arrested for two counts of Second-Degree Burglary. They were paddling up to boat docks in the dark, then paddling back out with the residents’ belongings.
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A local duo was arrested on December 2 for stealing. Even though they were arrested in December, the investigation began in early November. Marshall County Sheriff Danny Cryer said the Sheriff’s Office started receiving complaints from the residents in Alberta Creek about two people “prowling through and stealing items from boat slips.” 

For people who might be unsure of the term ‘boat slip,’ it is another word for a boat dock.  

Cryer said his department deduced the suspects down to a male and a female from their investigation, and they were staying in a boat slip that was rented out by an elderly man.  

Residents reported that the twosome – later identified as John Waldman and Holli Tull – used a canoe, under the cover of darkness, to enter other boat docks and steal valuable items like fishing poles, trolling motors, tackle boxes, alcohol and other items. 

The Sheriff’s Office located the boat slip where the kayaking kleptomaniacs were staying. However, the renter could only give a vague description of the couple. According to Cryer, one thing he was sure of was he told the twosome to skedaddle.  

On November 11, the Sheriff’s Office received an odd and peculiar call. An Alberta Creek maintenance man reported he caught and confronted a male by the name of John who was using a canoe and a ladder to enter a boat house.  

Apparently, John was not ready to give out his last name, or any other information, because after the maintenance man confronted him, he bolted for the woods. The deputies arrived but were unsuccessful in locating the suspect. Officers did find out that the canoe the suspect was using to break into the house was stolen from another residence 

The original victim, the boat slip renter, called the Sheriff’s Office on November 14. He informed officers he ran off a man and a woman – Waldman and Tull. According to the police report, he told the couple to “leave and not come back.” Officers noticed the couple matched the descriptions of the ones breaking into the neighboring boat docks. 

Deputies were later dispatched to Washita Point on November 15 for a burglary call on Rosewood Circle in Alberta Creek. The reporting party claimed his brother’s lake house was broken into and his 1971 Ford Truck was stolen. Besides the truck, there were a few bottles of water and food items missing, along with some bottles of medication. Oddly enough, the truck was returned the following day and there was no damage on it. 

Two weeks went by before the Sheriff’s Department received a concrete tip about the couple. On December 2, a caller informed the department he had cornered the suspects in an area known as “Rich Man’s Cove.” He told officers exactly what house they were hiding in because the pilfering pirogue was docked in the resident’s boat slip. 

Cryer and Deputy LaTasha Broadhead retrieved a spare key to the residence from a friend of the owner and slipped in the house looking for the duo. Upon entering the residence, Cryer said he noticed evidence that proved somebody was near; a Solo cup full of ice on the coffee table.  

He said this alerted both officers that “someone was either still in the residence or has left within the last 20 minutes, or so.” 

Acting off this new clue, Broadhead and Cryer meticulously checked the residence room by room and hit the jackpot in the northwest bedroom. Broadhead noticed something under the bed that did not belong, a bare foot sticking out. 

Attached to the telltale toes was Waldman, a 27-year-old male from Mead, and Tull, a 40-year-old female from Mead. Once officers made sure the suspects were secure, Broadhead searched the canoe and found it loaded with fishing equipment, tackle and a trolling motor. 

Both suspects were arrested and booked into the Marshall County Jail for two counts of Second-Degree Burglary,