Graford man arrested for attempting to break in to old Fort Wolters base

Mar. 29—Mineral Wells police arrested a Graford man after he was seen on video surveillance attempting to break into the old Fort Wolters base Sunday night.

MWPD responded to the 9-1-1- call around 9 p.m. after a caller observed subjects on the property attempting to break into the business .

Officers responded to the scene and found a male subject inside of the fenced area of that business who was in the process of stealing a piece of equipment from the business, according to the arrest report.

The man, later identified as James Brinkley, 43, of Graford, was detained while police investigated further. An extensive search of the premises did not locate any additional suspects.

Brinkley told officers he was an employee of the business and had "gotten locked out," according to the police report. During the search of the grounds, officers also observed direct evidence of an unsuccessful attempt to access the office building of the business.

Brinkley was arrested on charges of criminal mischief $2,500<$30,000, criminal attempt and criminal trespass.

Those charges may be upgraded to include burglary, and the investigation is ongoing, MWPD Chief Dean Sullivan said.

As of Monday, Brinkley remained in the Palo Pinto County jail on a combined $16,500 bond.