Jim Bass Burglar Sentenced

Bradley Bishop tripped the burglar alarm at Jim Bass Ford on July 5 last year, when he broke in and cut all the telecommunications wires.

The final of four car dealership burglaries over a span of five days, police responded to the scene at 4032 W. Houston Harte quickly, establishing a perimeter and locating the 36-year-old suspect, who they then took into custody.

Over the next 24 hours, Bishop would be admitted into Shannon Medical Center and escape, spurring yet another manhunt that ended at roughly 11 p.m. two days later, when he was found running out the back door of a residence on Hwy 380.

Having spent the past eight months in the county jail, Bishop finally saw his day in court on Feb. 25, where the repeat offender confessed his crimes in a generous plea deal.

Charged with possession of methamphetamine and burglary of a habitation, Bishop pled guilty to both charges and was sentenced to 425 days in state jail and ordered to pay $2,365 in restitution.

In exchange for the guilty plea, both enhancement paragraphs were abandoned, which would have upped the degree of his charges from state jail to third-degree felonies and changed the punishment from 180 days to two years in state jail to two to 10 years in prison.

Bishop currently has a credit for time served in the county jail since July 9, equal to a little over seven months, or half of his sentence. Both the possession and burglary of a building sentences will run concurrently.