Robbery foiled when King can’t kick in door

A Smithville man faces felony charges after he tried to rob a Green Hill home with a stolen gun, his plans foiled after he was unable to kick down the victim’s door.

The suspect, Jody Leon King, is charged with multiple offenses including attempted robbery, aggravated burglary, theft and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He has a prior felony record making the mere possession of a firearm an additional felony, punishable itself under federal law by imprisonment anywhere from five to 15 years.

The plot to rob the Green Hill Road home actually began nearly a week prior to the foiled robbery when King allegedly broke into a Franks Road home. During that burglary, lawmen say King took a 45-caliber pistol and a 12-gauge Mossburg shotgun.

It was six days later when King allegedly went to a home on Green Hill Road with one of the stolen guns in hand, planning to use the gun to rob the occupants at gunpoint.

However, when time came to make his surprise invasion, the 5-foot-5, 135-pound King was unable to bypass the first line of security ‘ the locked door.

After several fruitless attempts to kick his way in and not wanting to alert the neighborhood by blasting the door with his stolen gun, King fled the area before deputies arrived. He was later identified and arrested for both the break-in and the attempted robbery. More arrests are pending in the case.