TEXARKANA, Texas–Two men have been charged with engaging in organized criminal activity in connection with a break-in earlier this month at the Lake Side Smoke and Food in Texarkana, according to court records filed Monday in Bowie County.
Jaylen Deangelo Bowman, 25, Cory Javon Phillips, 46, and two unidentified men allegedly broke into the store Nov. 8 and were caught by law enforcement that night, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Officers were alerted to suspicious activity behind the business at about 1:30 a.m. and officers in different patrol units staged in the area, the affidavit said. As the officers closed in, multiple suspects were seen running from the area.
Bowman was detained by an officer and found to have a box containing numerous cartons of cigarettes as well as a back pack containing “various cigars and cigarettes.”
Phillips was allegedly in possession of a black ski mask and black gardening gloves when he was apprehended by a pair of officers following a foot pursuit near the business.
Officers chased another suspect who was able to evade them at that time. They recovered a gray ski mask in the area of the pursuit.
The back door of the store had been pried open with a crow bar and an angle grinder had been used to cut a hole the burglary crew then used to gain access to merchandise inside the business.
Officers found a hydraulic door splitter and a black backpack with a picture of a female printed on it sitting in the parking lot. The backpack contained several boxes of stolen tobacco products and a cardboard box containing cartons of cigarettes.
Near a fence at the northwest side of the building, officers located a tool bag with an angle grinder, pry bars and tin snips that appeared to have been used to gain entry into the building. They also impounded a car found nearby that had been parked at a vacant house that officers suspected was related to the organized burglary.
A phone was seized from the vehicle and phones were taken from Phillips and Bowman, the affidavit said.
Phillips is currently being held in the Bowie County jail with bond set at $80,000. Bowman is currently being held with bond set at $160,000, jail records show.
The cases have been assigned to 102nd District Judge Jeff Addison.
