String of St. Clair County burglaries ends when deputies find suspect asleep in shed
A Tilden man has been charged in connection with a string of attempted burglaries throughout Marrisa and Lenzburg, several of which culminated in gunfire, according to the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department.
Courtney D. Woodside, 42, was charged on Sunday with four counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, two counts of residential burglary, two counts of burglary and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. He was arrested on Friday after he was found sleeping in the loft of a area of a shed.
The string of alleged burglaries began on Tuesday, Nov. 16, when St. Clair County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 400 block of Nashville Road in Lenzburg. The 51-year-old victim told the officers he heard noises in his carport, where a surprised Woodside threw hand tools and fired shots, according to a sheriff’s department release.
Woodside fled the scene, but the victim was able to get a license plate of the suspect’s car, a dark green Chevy pick-up truck, the release stated. The victim was not hit by the gun fire, but had to be treated for injuries from the objects that were thrown at him.
That disturbance was followed by another on the 1200 block of State Route 4 in Marissa shortly after midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 17.
Victims there said they saw Woodside in their garage and exiting their car before seeing him leave the property in a Chevy pick-up truck, according to the sheriff’s department. Six minutes after the attempted burglary, the deputies were dispatched again to the 1200 block of Mud Creek Road in Marissa for the report of criminal trespassing and shots fired.
Victims said they heard two gun shots fired near their residence. No one was injured from the gun shots, but victims said they heard something strike their property. The suspect’s truck was abandoned on the north side of the property.
At 12:35 a.m. on the same day, the sheriff’s department received another burglary complaint at a second residence in the 1200 block of Mud Creek Road.
A victim there said they saw Woodside trying to steal their Polaris four-wheeler, the sheriff’s release said. He allegedly fled on foot after being confronted by the victim.
Deputies were later dispatched at 1:09 a.m. to the 800 block of State Route 4 in Marissa in reference to another attempted burglary in which a victim said someone was in her camper, though nobody was found upon deputies’ arrival.
At 6:30 a.m, three vehicles on the 400 block of North Washington Street in Lenzburg were burglarized overnight.
On Friday, Nov. 19, the Marissa Police Department was dispatched to the 1100 block of Eiff Road where they said they found Woodside sleeping in the loft area of a shed. He was taken into custody and items taken from the burglary were recovered.
Although no victims in the burglary string were injured from gun fire, two homes had minor damage.
Woodside is currently being held at St. Clair County Jail and has a bond of $250,000.
