Man Charged With Home Burglary, Attempted Burglary Of Byrneville Community Center Arrested After Manhunt

August 24, 2021

A Flomaton man is facing charges after the alleged attempted burglary of the Byrneville Community Center and a home before leading deputies on a manhunt in Byrneville.

Tristan Lee Bell, 24, was charged attempted burglary of an unoccupied structure, burglary of an occupied dwelling, possession of burglary tools, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting arrest.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded to a reported open door or window at the community center. They arrived to observe a white male wearing an orange shirt standing outside the building. Deputies noted two window screens had been removed from two windows of the community center.

Bell picked up a gray backpack and took off running into a wooded area on the west side of Byrneville Road, according to an arrest report. A deputy that entered the woods reported finding the backpack, a screwdriver, cutting pliers, Bell’s wallet, his phone and an orange t-shirt that was wrapped around a sunglasses case that contained methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

A deputy spotted Bell exit the wooded area without a shirt and run south on Byrneville Road before he entered another wooded area. When K-9 deputies arrived on scene, Bell was seen running south on Byrneville Road in the area of McBride Road. As officers were setting up a perimeter, they were informed that someone was breaking into a residence in the 1000 block of Byrneville Road.

A responding deputy captured Bell as he allegedly ran from the corner of the residence, about a mile and half from the community center.

The occupant of the home told deputies he did not notice anything was going on because of a hearing difficulty.

According to the ECSO, the blade on the screwdriver recovered from Bell matched the pry marks on the windows at the Byrneville Community Center.

Bell remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set ta $9,500.

Comments

12 Responses to “Man Charged With Home Burglary, Attempted Burglary Of Byrneville Community Center Arrested After Manhunt”

  1. Linds on August 25th, 2021 3:58 pm

    Reply to Kevin….
    Im praying for you sir… With an attitude like that lord knows you need it

  2. Mom on August 25th, 2021 2:28 pm

    And to the ones who have reached out and offered kinds words and prayers in this situation, Pease know that I greatly appreciate you… you all mean the world to me and I can’t thank you enough.. Just know it can happen to anyone at any given minute so please please be careful and mindful of what you say about someone.. God Bless!!

  3. Mom on August 25th, 2021 2:20 pm

    I am coming here to say how thankful I truly am for the ones that are able to pass judgment on my sons situation.. I am thankful honestly because with anyone who is able to pass judgment that means you have never had a loved one that is dealing with addiction and never had to watch as the drugs take them from someone you once knew to someone you no longer know.. you don’t have to watch them go through their days as just existing and basically a dead man walking.. It is a life I wouldn’t wish on anyone because it is a life of pure torture.. Now to the matter at hand… do I as his mother excuse his actions, no not at all.. He will do the time for the crimes that they end up committing him for… and I give a sincere apology to whomever it was they say he broke in on.. I am NOT making excuses for him, just stating the facts.. If anyone truly knows him they know the kind of person he was before all the trauma took place that got him to where he is now and they know he is a good person that has been struggling with so many demons and when he found something to quieten them he latched on.. unfortunately it was the wrong thing to latch on to.. So please instead of judging pray and thank God that you can feel the need to judge because like I said if you can you have never felt the pain he or any of his family feels on a daily… He needs mental help and rehabilitation and lots of prayers…. I am asking for that and thank you in advance …God Bless…

  4. Susie on August 25th, 2021 10:20 am

    From reading some of the replies here (God bless you @Grandma), this boy has some serious problems. We’ve probably all (or most) had a troubled person in our family at one time or another. It’s pure horror. Prison does make it worse, I’m sure. Drug addiction is another kind of prison but, in the long run, it’s all the same to the family. It is heartbreaking. NEVER enable these offenders. They don’t change without a LOT of professional help…for the rest of their lives. As for the family, never lose faith, keep praying for them and care for your health. God watches over us. That we can rely on. I pray he gets the help he needs.

  5. Jr on August 25th, 2021 7:10 am

    First of all…I’m glad this young man was caught and people can sleep in their own homes in that area with peace. To @Grandma…no one is holding you,or his family, responsible for this young mans actions…I know y’all did all you could do for him. Him being in jail is better than the other thoughts that have occupied your thoughts of where he was over the years. Addicts will do whatever their clouded thinking process tells them to do. I know this feeling all too well. I will keep this young man in my prayers for him to finally bear this demon that has ruined his life as well as those around him.

  6. PcolaNative on August 24th, 2021 6:40 pm

    Dear Grandma you have my sincerest sympathy. I understand your relief he is kn jail .. at least he is alive so there is hope. Take care of yourself you can’t control him. Send a virtual hug to you <3

  7. Grandma on August 24th, 2021 5:01 pm

    I’m not ashamed to stand up and say this is my grandson. I witnessed the trauma and bad upbringing he had. I’ve seen him beat black and blue from his back to his knees. He was with me the night we discovered my husband – his beloved Pawpaw – dead in his truck. His best friend was killed shortly after, at a drug infested party where he shouldn’t have been. I tried to take him, but DHR decided he’d be better off with his birth parent. My son. Believe me, he wasn’t.

    He’s just done three years in prison for possession with intent to distribute. Before that, his other grandparent and I paid for 18 months of rehab. Nothing has stopped him.

    I’m so thankful he’s in jail. I want him to stay there. Just know, sometimes your best efforts are just not enough. I pray for him constantly, but I can’t fix this. Only God can. Don’t judge. I’ve never even had a traffic ticket. I tried as hard as humanly possible with my children and grandchildren. Just know. It can happen to you and the pain is excruciating.

  8. Old stokes on August 24th, 2021 3:17 pm

    I’m a family member y’all can stop the blame game he was raised knowing right from wrong he message me asking if I would hide him I told him don’t come to my mom’s place because if you do I’ll hold you for the law some people just take time to learn well he will have all the time he needs now an no there resson to say he didn’t have a good childhood he did an was given anything he ask for so y’all can stop that part

  9. Kevin on August 24th, 2021 2:20 pm

    I don’t care what “illness” this excuse of life has, break in to this combat veterans home for his habit and he won’t have a habit to need breaking in to for any more. Fix his problem before he even crosses the threshold of my house. I retired here for the quiet lifestyle and welcoming people, not for trash like this to take what’s not his.

  10. Lindsay hendricj on August 24th, 2021 8:32 am

    This man needs rehab and intensive inner child and trauma therapy, he has the disease of addiction, I’m not excusing his crime but anyone with an ounce of knowledge of addiction would know this is desperation! I’m not saying he doesn’t need to pay but prison just escalates the trauma, which escalates the need to numb it… Tristan is a good man, he just makes bad choices. He has the most loving family and an absolute rock of a mother who is a God fearing woman. I pray for help for this child in Jesus mighty name!

  11. Leslie on August 24th, 2021 8:11 am

    I’m curious what he thought he would find inside the community center?

  12. Rasheed Jackson on August 24th, 2021 6:36 am

    You think you live in a nice quiet and safe communnity? Well think again! These methheads will go anywhere and do what ever it takes to support there habit. Sad that our once quiet rural communities have turned into this.