A Scott County man was arrested after a Seymour police officer investigated suspicious activity on the city’s east side.

Robert D. Bannister, 49, of Austin was arrested early Thursday on charges of burglary, theft and possession of paraphernalia.

The arrest was in connection with the attempted theft of stereo speakers, tools and construction equipment, worth about $1,000, Seymour Police Chief Bill Abbott said.

Abbott said the incident began about 2 a.m. Thursday when Officer Jim Handley was sent by dispatch to the Commerce Drive area on an unrelated call. He noticed a green Ford Ranger in the area and later saw the same driver in a white Chevrolet Blazer, which was parked next to the Ranger, at a nearby hotel.

“It seemed suspicious. He noticed something didn’t seem right,” Abbott said of Handley.

Handley shined a spotlight on the man in the Blazer. The man said he knew the people who owned the Blazer, but police asked the owner to come outside, and the owner denied knowing the man, Abbott said.

Abbott said the four-door Blazer had been locked, but a back passenger window was rolled down slightly, allowing the man to get in.

After the arrest, police found a marijuana pipe on Bannister, leading to the drug paraphernalia charge, police said.

Bannister was being held without bond Thursday morning at the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown.

Abbott said he wants to remind the public not only to keep vehicle doors locked and secured but also to roll up all windows to keep valuables out of sight.

Officers Crystal Schapson and Mathew Carver and Cpl. Adam Surface assisted.