FROM STAFF REPORTS
MARBLE FALLS — When a Sana Vida staff member arrived at the business at about 6 a.m. Aug. 20, he noticed a man lying near the front door holding a crow bar in his hand.
It was the start of a trail that led police investigators through several alleged burglaries and a robbery in Marble Falls. And the man, who was unresponsive when officers arrived on the scene, eventually told investigators after another arrest that his alleged destructive field trip started when his girlfriend broke up with him.
Marble Falls police contacted Marble Falls Area EMS, which then transported the man, identified in an arrest warrant affidavit as Murl Shane Lamb, 40, to Seton Highland Lakes “for a possible drug and/or alcohol overdose.” After turning over the man to EMS, officers located more buildings in the area they believed the suspect might have burglarized.
The owner of the Sana Vida facility put the damage to the business at $15,000.
But it was an alleged robbery Aug. 21 at a convenience store in the 800 block of U.S. 281 in Marble Falls that brought it all together when officers arrested and charged Lamb. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the suspect agreed to speak with officers regarding the Aug. 20 activities as well as the alleged robbery.
On Aug. 20, Marble Falls officers also investigated an alleged break-in at the Marble Falls Church of Christ, 711 Broadway. Upon arriving at work, a church staff member noticed someone had apparently forced his or her way in through a window. The staff member also reported damage to many interior doors and several open cabinets in the church.
An officer investigating the church break-in believed the pry marks at the scene resembled those made from a crow bar or a claw hammer, according to the affidavit.
Officers also responded to a possible burglary at a building and shed in the 1000 block of Avenue F in Marble Falls.
During the interview with the suspect, the man allegedly confessed to the spree of burglaries as well as criminal mischief activity, according to the affidavit, which was signed Sept. 2.
He told investigators his girlfriend had recently broken up with him, so he began using methamphetamines and added that he had not eaten or slept in five days, the affidavit stated.
Though he was unable to remember much of the details surrounding the alleged burglaries and criminal mischief because of the drug use, the suspect claimed he was looking for cash, according to the affidavit.
Marble Falls police charged the man with robbery, two counts of burglary of a building and criminal mischief. He also faces aggravated robbery charges out of Llano County. He was booked into the Burnet County Jail and is being held on a total $315,000 bond.
editor@thepicayune.com
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