Jury Convicts Husband/Wife Duo in Downtown Beauty School Burglary Scheme

A Knox County jury convicted Casey Reed and Samantha Harris today of carrying out a clandestine burglary scheme targeting a downtown beauty school. Nate Ogle, a prosecutor in District Attorney Charme Allen’s Criminal Court Unit, presented evidence during the trial that led to the convictions of burglary and theft.

Reed and Harris hatched their plan in November 2014, when Harris worked as an after-hours janitor at the Douglas J. Aveda Institute on Gay Street. In the early morning hours of November 11, 2014, Harris left the door cracked at the rear entrance to the building during her cleaning shift. This allowed Reed and another masked intruder to enter the building. Reed and his partner snatched over $7,000 worth of beauty supplies and accessories while Harris worked in other parts of the building. Phone records obtained by KPD investigators showed that Harris and Reed made multiple phone calls to each other during the burglary, with Harris at one point reopening the rear door after Reed accidentally allowed it to shut behind him. Although Reed covered his face on the surveillance footage of the burglary, he wore transparent gloves that revealed a dark tattoo on his hand. Reed’s sister was shown this surveillance footage by KPD investigators, and she identified her brother based upon this tattoo. Harris later revealed the scheme when she sold a set of electric clippers to a beautician and bragged that she had stolen the clippers from the Aveda Institute. The buyer turned the clippers over to KPD and told the investigators about Harris’s confession.

Judge Bob R. McGee reset the case to sentence Reed and Harris. They are each facing at least two-year sentences for their felony convictions.

If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.