Suspected burglar steals lawnmower, faces arrest after gas runs out

Deputies arrested a suspected burglar Sunday after the lawnmower authorities said he swiped from a home in Kentucky ran out of gas.

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McCracken County sheriff's deputies found Timothy Sams, 25, on Sunday afternoon after a person called to report a suspicious man who had several firearm cases on a lawnmower.

Deputies found several suspicious items on Sams, including guns, cases, jewelry and "a wallet that clearly did not belong to him," authorities said.

The Paducah man claimed to be the rightful owner of the items, deputies said. However, investigators learned that the wallet they found on Sams had been taken without its owners' knowledge from an attached garage on Gatewood Drive. The lawnmower and other items found on Sams were linked to a burglary on Palisades Circle.

"Sams had made it approximately a half mile before the mower … ran out of gas," the McCracken County Sheriff's Department said in a news release.

Between the home on Palisades Circle and the spot where Sams was apprehended, "deputies (found) several items that had fallen off the mower during Sams' getaway," according to the Sheriff's Department.

A deputy was injured when Sams punched the deputy during an attempt to flee, officials said. The deputy's injuries were minor.

Sams was subdued and taken to McCracken County Regional Jail to face charges of first-degree burglary, third-degree assault and resisting arrest. Deputies are investigating to determine whether Sams is suspected of additional burglaries.

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