2014-12-19 Funk

Couple's cover story doesn't fool police, face burglary charges

Amarillo police arrested two people after finding them inside a San Jacinto neighborhood home without the owner’s permission on December 18, 2014.^[1]

Officers responded to a reported burglary in progress in the 3300 block of Southwest 10th Avenue at approximately 6:15 p.m. The caller, who was the homeowner’s son, said he saw an unfamiliar man and woman inside his father’s residence.[^2]

Police approached the house and saw Kyle Walter Patton, 32, and Shelby Brianna Funk, 20, in the living room. Both complied when officers asked them to step outside.^[2]

Patton claimed the home belonged to his grandfather, whom he described as having mental-health and memory problems. He also told officers that his grandmother had recently died.^[3]

During the investigation, police discovered that Funk had several outstanding Potter County warrants. Officers handcuffed her and placed her in a patrol car.

As Patton was being detained, he asked an officer to retrieve money from his pocket so Funk could use it toward her bond. When the officer reached into the pocket, he discovered drug paraphernalia. A subsequent search reportedly uncovered a bag of marijuana in Patton’s coat.

The homeowner and his wife arrived a short time later and told police they did not know Patton or Funk and had not given either of them permission to enter the residence.

Both were booked into the Potter County Detention Center on burglary-of-a-habitation charges. Patton was also charged with possessing between two and four ounces of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Funk was additionally held on three Potter County warrants stemming from allegations of unlawfully carrying a firearm, failure to identify as a fugitive and theft.