Grand jury indicts store owner

The case of a Russellville business owner accused of lying to the police in June will be set for trial after he was indicted on the charges earlier this month.

Trevor Hugh Hardy, 24, 9733 Franklin 81, Phil Campbell, was indicted on charges of first-degree perjury, falsely reporting an incident and rendering a false alarm, Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said.

According to Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett, Hardy called police on June 20 about 2 p.m. to report that someone had robbed his store, H&H Computers, which is located on U.S. 43 in Russellville across the highway from O’Reilly Auto Parts.

Hardy reportedly told police that he came out of the store’s bathroom and saw a man taking money from the cash register.

Hardy said he followed the man out of the store into some nearby woods at which point Hardy reportedly claimed the man fired a gun at him and he returned fire.

Law enforcement officials performed an extensive search for the suspect in the nearby woods but never found anyone.

Hargett said at the time of the arrest, investigators discovered Hardy had previously incurred a similar charge of making a false report.

After being questioned by the police the following day, Hargett said Hardy admitted he made the story up but never said why he did.

Rushing said Hardy’s case would be set for arraignment on Jan. 4.