Charlie Byrd set his smoker going in his Murfreesboro driveway at 7 p.m. Saturday to slow-cook a brisket, only to get a phone alert around 2 a.m. Sunday warning him something had gone badly wrong. When he stepped outside, he says he saw roughly ten-foot flames shooting from the top of the grill — and after getting the fire under control, his surveillance cameras revealed why: two teenagers had raided the smoker, taken bites of the meat, spit on it and stabbed it with a garden shovel before running off.
Byrd told WKRN News 2 that the smoker's ambient temperature had exceeded 900 degrees Fahrenheit at the time, information he was able to track because he had an internal meat probe connected to his phone. On the footage, he says he could hear the two teens talking and asking if the other was hungry before they opened the smoker up. “They even took a couple of bites before they left,” Byrd said, describing a scene that could have easily turned dangerous given the extreme heat involved.
Despite the chaos, Byrd said his house and vehicles were not damaged — only the brisket was ruined. Still, he says the teens could have hurt themselves or someone else by messing with a smoker running that hot, and he wants some level of accountability. He also said, according to WKRN, that those who caused the damage owe him dinner, and that he would like the opportunity to have a conversation with the teens' parents.
Footage Shared Amid a String of Neighborhood Car Break-Ins
Byrd said the smoker incident happened against the backdrop of a string of car thefts throughout his neighborhood, and that neighbors have reported cash and personal belongings stolen recently. According to Byrd, he shared his surveillance video with Murfreesboro police for their car break-in investigation, though it remains unclear whether the teens seen on his camera are connected to any of the reported burglaries.
Murfreesboro police were also called overnight to the 700 block of Stone Mill Circle around the same time, after a resident there believed their car had been broken into. Police determined, per the same report, that no one had actually attempted to break into that vehicle. A day later, on September 28, a resident in the 3300 block of Rift Lane reported that a vehicle at their home had in fact been broken into, with a debit card stolen from an unlocked car.
Juvenile Suspects a Recurring Pattern in Local Break-Ins
The timing lines up with a broader trend police have flagged in Murfreesboro. Murfreesboro Police Department data cited by the same outlet shows the city recorded 125 car break-ins in 2026, a 50% decrease compared with the same period in 2025. But of the people suspected of breaking into cars in Murfreesboro from 2021 through 2025, about 36% were under 18, the report notes.
Juvenile involvement in vehicle burglaries isn't new to the area. In June, Fox 17 reported that three suspects, including a 15-year-old, were accused of breaking into at least 13 vehicles at two apartment complexes on Warrior Drive and South Church Street — an incident also covered by WSMV. That same station reported the trio was arrested and charged after allegedly breaking into more than a dozen vehicles in a single day.
Car break-ins have been a persistent problem across the city. Fox 17 has previously reported that nearly 40 cars were broken into in one night in early February, with five firearms stolen and two vehicles reported missing, with police noting the burglaries have happened all over Murfreesboro, from the east side to the west side, south and north. Separately, WGNS Radio found that Murfreesboro logged 660 crime reports across at least 15 categories over a 28-day stretch in 2024, with vehicle break-ins ranking as the sixth most common offense during that window. NewsChannel 5 has also reported that residents of one Murfreesboro neighborhood said a string of car break-ins left many feeling unsafe and out of pocket.
City Urges Residents to Follow 9PM Routine
The Murfreesboro Police Department is investigating the break-in reported on Rift Lane, according to an MPD statement, though the department has said active investigations and pending prosecutions are exempt from disclosure under the Tennessee Public Records Act and Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16. The city continues to encourage residents to follow its 9PM Routine, which calls on residents to remove valuables and keys from their vehicles and lock both vehicle and home doors by 9 p.m., according to the City of Murfreesboro.
