W’burg man charged with robbery after trying to steal back his own ‘medication’

Scott Kirklin

A Williamsburg man, who was apparently trying to take his "medication" back from someone who allegedly stole it from him, is behind bars facing a robbery charge.

Williamsburg K-9 Officer Brandon Prewitt charged Scott Kirklin, 29, with first-degree robbery late Thursday and lodged him in the Whitley County Detention Center where he is being held in lieu of a $25,000 cash bond.

About 4 a.m. Thursday, Williamsburg police received a call from Kirklin, who alleged he and his wife were assaulted and robbed while staying at the Budget Inn, said Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird.

"When I say robbed, I mean that they stole his medication. They came into the room, assaulted him and his wife and stolen his medication in the middle of the night," Bird said. "He knew who the individuals were. There was no serious injuries between the two of them so they were advised by the officers to seek paperwork."

Bird said that instead of seeking paperwork or an arrest warrant for the two suspects, Kirklin instead allegedly went to the Super 8 motel where the suspects were located.

About 7 p.m., a clerk at the motel called police informing them that a woman was in the lobby bleeding.

The bleeding woman also told the clerk that her brother was in room 205 and was being robbed and beaten too, Bird said.

When police arrived, they discovered the male victim in the breezeway upstairs and the female victim downstairs in the lobby.
Police interviewed the two victims, who had both been pepper sprayed.

The female victim also had some cuts to her forehead. Whitley County EMS transported both victims to the hospital for treatment.

"What we were able to ascertain at the scene is that a large quantity of Suboxone and Klonopin were taken by force," Bird said.
Before the victims were taken to the hospital, they gave police the name of their alleged assailant, his vehicle description and the names of others allegedly in the vehicle with him, according to a police department release.

Bird said that the two suspects identified the perpetrator as Kirklin and police put out a Be On the Look Out (BOLO) notice to surrounding agencies to be on the lookout for Kirklin and the vehicle he was driving.

About two or three hours later, Williamsburg police and Whitley County Sheriff’s deputies located the vehicle at a residence on the 3000 block of Craig Road, Bird said.

Efforts had allegedly been made to conceal the vehicle from view, according to the release.

"We secured all the people, who were there, and took Kirklin into custody," Bird noted.

Based on the preliminary investigation, Williamsburg police charged Kirklin with robbery.

"From everything we were getting he was the primary aggressor," Bird said. "We did recover a large quantity of Suboxone strips and Klonopin that were concealed inside the passenger’s seat of the suspect’s car."

During interviews with Kirklin and others in the car, police determined that Kirklin was the only person who entered the victims’ motel room, and Kirklin told police that he was "retaliating for alleged crimes against his wife and him," according to the release.
Williamsburg Police Detective Bobby Freeman is investigating the case and more arrests could take place later depending on the actions of the commonwealth attorney and the grand jury, Bird said.

Whitley County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kirk Mays and Deputy David Rowe assisted with the investigation.

"We really appreciate their help. If they hadn’t assisted us, then it might have taken us quite a bit longer to locate this suspect’s vehicle. They were a huge help last night," Bird said Friday afternoon.

Bird said that Mays and Rowe had dealt with Kirklin several times and knew exactly where he lived in the Canadatown area.

Others assisting with the investigation included: Bird, Williamsburg Police Capt. Eddie Cain, Sgt. Jim Pool, Officer Cody Jeffries and Prewitt.