Duo give police bizarre stories after allegedly trying to burglarize vacant home

He told police that he was just looking for a pregnant horse, which was loose. She says she was just out looking for peat moss in order to decorate for a wedding, and wasn’t wearing any shoes or a shirt while doing so.

According to the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department, the two were allegedly trying to burglarize a vacant home in the Rockholds community only a few hundred yards from where they lived.

All and all, it made for a busy late morning and early afternoon for members of the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department, including Sheriff Colan Harrell, who made the initial arrest himself.

Deputies charged Eric Wayne Flowers, 42, and Candice Louise Dodd, 40, both of Youngs Lane, Rockholds, with second-degree burglary.

Flowers was also charged with being a fugitive from Georgia. Dodd was also charged with possession of a defaced firearm.
Both were lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center Friday afternoon.

Harrell is crediting the vigilance of neighbors with helping to catch the couple.

"They had called 911, and I headed that way," he said. "I feel like the neighbors should be commended for watching the property. I feel like it is a good thing to do."

It all started about 9:37 a.m. Friday, when neighbors called 911 reporting a possible burglary and wire theft at a home off Ky. 26 across from Ed Carr Road.

No one had lived in the home for quite some time.

Harrell was the first officer to arrive at the scene about 9:52 a.m., and took Flowers into custody, who was outside near the residence. He had apparently driven there of a four-wheeler, which was registered to Dodd.

Deputy Jeff Anderson arrived a short time later.

About 10:10 a.m., vigilant neighbors began yelling at officers that a woman wearing a red hoodie bolted out the back door of the empty home, hopped a fence and took off across a creek.

"She shot out of there like a bullet," one witness told police.

"She’s part deer," another witness later exclaimed.

Anderson gave chase, but lost the woman after she jumped over the fence.

Witnesses told police that the woman looked like Dodd.

Anderson, Chief Deputy K.Y. Fuson, Lt. Bill Riley and Jerry Rains, who is with the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management, searched through the nearby woods for about two hours.

They apprehended Dodd near 300 Youngs Lane about 12:35 p.m. At the time of her arrest, Dodd was wearing pants and a jog bra, but no shoes or shirt.

During the search of the woods, Fuson found clothes before Dodd was apprehended, Harrell said. He said authorities believe she took the clothes off to conceal her identity.

"We feel pretty comfortable she was the one" who ran from the back of the residence, Harrell said. "We are going to charge her with it. It was her four-wheeler at the scene."

Dodd denied she was trying to break into a home, and told police that she was planning to have a wedding at her home and was gathering peat moss in the woods to decorate.

While searching for Dodd, Harrell said authorities went to her residence at 51 Youngs Lane, and observed drug paraphernalia inside the home.

Detective Tim Baker then obtained a search warrant for the residence, which was executed about 1 p.m.

Deputies found drug residue inside the home, and a defaced pistol inside Dodd’s bedroom, Harrell said.

K-9 Officer Shawn Jackson later searched the residence with his police K-9.

Harrell said Flowers is wanted in Georgia on a burglary charge, and that Georgia authorities are in the process of obtaining extradition papers for Flowers, who has an extensive criminal history.

Flowers told police he was looking for a pregnant horse.

"We’ve not seen a pregnant horse yet," Harrell said Friday morning. "I hadn’t heard that one before. Give him credit for creativity."

Kentucky State Police Trooper Stacy Walker also assisted at the scene.