LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – When a man attempting to break into coin machine was caught he allegedly said “he was just messing with the door.”

Campbell County Sheriff’s Deputy  Dakota Williams was dispatched on Friday, Aug. 3 to Big O’s Git-n-Go about a male subject wearing jeans, a brown shirt and a white bandana trying to break into the coin room at the car wash.

Williams located a man matching the description walking down old Middlesboro Rd. When he made contact with him, he allegedly said he had just left Big O’s about 10 minutes ago. It was then a witness came up and identified the man as the alleged thief. The witness said the man was attempting to break into the car wash at Big O’s, where he saw him trying to pick the lock. The witness allegedly confronted the man, later identified as Johnny Osborne, prompting Osborne to apologize for the attempted theft.

Osborne was transported back to Big O’s to see if the door was damaged. Williams noticed marks on the door knob that indicated it had been tampered with. Osborne allegedly said he was just messing with it, and he wasn’t trying to damage it.

Osborne, 50, 502 South 7th Street, LaFollette was charged with vandalism. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 08/09/2019-6AM)