A report of a missing 14-year-old Brownwood boy Wednesday led police to a local hotel, where police located — and arrested — the boy on a drug charge, as well as an Austin man on multiple charges.
Michael Tabler, 30, was booked into the Brown County Jail on charges of possession of a controlled substance, fraudulent use of identifying information, child endangerment and possession of a dangerous drug, jail records state. Tabler is free on bonds totaling $26,000.
The investigation begins
According to a report by officer Bryan Greenrock:
Greenrock was dispatched Wednesday night to the hotel in the 100 block of Market Place Boulevard, where the missing boy was believed to be located.
Greenrock met with the boy’s parents at the hotel, where the boy’s mother said her son had been missing since that morning. The woman said one of the boy’s friends had sent her a video of her son in a black car, and the video showed the car’s license plate.
The woman began looking for the car, saw it at the hotel and contacted law enforcement.
Officer speaks with the boy and Michael Tabler
As Greenrock spoke with the boy’s parents, the boy entered the hotel lobby and refused to answer his parents’ inquiries. A hotel employee told Greenrock the room number of the owner of the black car.
The employee said she’d seen the boy enter the room with an older male, identified as Tabler. The boy told the employee Tabler was his brother, but the boy does not have a brother, Greenrock was told.
Entering the room
Greenrock went to Tabler’s room and prepared to knock on the door, and heard a television playing. When Greenrock knocked on the door, the television’s sound went away and the door opened on its own.
Greenrock announced himself as a police officer and received no response, and called for assistance from Cpl. Brandon Johnson. Greenrock and Johnson entered the room, and Johnson saw methamphetamine on a coffee table in the living room area.
Greenrock and Johnson entered the bedroom portion of the room, where they located Tabler on the bed, appearing to be sleeping. The officers saw a glass pipe with what appeared to be methamphetamine residue on the bed, as well as syringes with apparent methamphetamine in other locations.
Questioning Tabler and the boy
The officers woke up Tabler, who said the boy had called him, said he’d been kicked out of his parents’ home and asked Tabler to take him back to Austin. Tabler denied knowledge of the methamphetamine and said it wasn’t in the room when he fell asleep.
The boy’s mother told Greenrock she was waiting in the lobby with her son when she saw him send a text to a friend stating a stolen credit card had been used to rent the hotel room.
Greenrock spoke with the boy, who said he’d been in the room for about an hour before entering the lobby. Greenrock arrested the boy for possession of a controlled substance.
Additional evidence seized
As Greenrock gathered Tabler’s belongings, Greenrock searched Tabler’s backpack and found a syringe with a dark substance, believed to possibly be heroin. Greenrock also found a pill bottle with tablets and a prescription label with another name.
Johnson saw bag with a substance that appeared to be methamphetamine on the floor of Tabler’s car. The officers searched the car and found a pipe in the true with what appeared to be methamphetamine, as well as several Texas identification cards, credit cards and pills.
Sheet in the doorway
The boy told Greenlock all the methamphetamine in the room belonged to Tabler. The boy said Tabler had put a sheet on the door separating the living room from the bedroom so the boy would not be able to see Tabler use methamphetamine.
When asked about methamphetamine in the living room, the boy would not answer. The officers processed the boy and released him to the juvenile detention center.
brownwoodtx.com/news/20170609/search-for-missing-juvenile-leads-to-two-arrests-including-juvenile
