A man was arrested at around 12:30 Friday morning after the Troy Police Department responded to a report of a vehicle break-in.

Joseph Benard McClendon, 30, is charged with unlawful breaking and entering and was being held at the Pike County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

Lt. Brian Weed, the public information officer for the police department, said McClendon might have gone unidentified if the victim had not been aware of their surroundings at the time.

“The victim had seen the guy in the vehicle in the parking lot, and there were actually two people that came out and saw the guy by their car,” Weed said. “When they looked in their vehicle, they saw they had property missing they called us.”

The victim was in the middle of reporting the incident to law enforcement officers when McClendon reportedly drove back by and was recognized.

“While they were doing their report, the vehicle came by and they said, ‘Hey that’s the vehicle we were telling you about,’” Weed said. “Police stopped it and they were able to recover some property and wound up charging him with breaking and entering.”

Weed stressed the importance of being aware of your surroundings again and asked the public to be on the look out for suspicious behavior or people.

“The biggest thing is that the victim was alert enough and was paying attention and noticed this person in the parking lot and was able to identify him to us when they were giving the report,” Weed said. “That was the number one reason he got caught.”