RIPLEY — A Limestone County investigator said three Tennessee men, one caught hiding in a box, have been charged with breaking into a store Thursday.

Sheriff’s Department Chief Investigator Stanley McNatt said the trio wanted to steal cash and cigarettes, but the store they chose in the Ripley community southwest of Athens did not sell cigarettes.

Their plan backfired as well when a homeowner saw their car parked at USA Grocery on Zehner Road around 2 a.m.

“He called us and kept us informed until deputies arrived,” McNatt said. “He saw the driver leave and two people run behind the store.”

Deputies Guy Simmons and Jonathan Hardiman found one man hiding in a cardboard box in the store, McNatt said. A second man ran, and deputies caught him after a brief foot chase.

Athens police helped secure the store while authorities searched for the driver, who they found driving around the area, McNatt said.

“They wanted to sell the cigarettes for cash, but the owner had stopped carrying cigarettes,” he said. “One of them had visited friends near the store and knew where the store was located.”

Lt. Brad Curnutt charged Tommy Lee Johnson, 18, of 576 Revilo Road, Leoma; Richard Isaac Parker, 18, of 640 Liberty Circle, Prospect; and Chase Everett Hall, 20, of 123 Sam Davis Ave., Pulaski, with third-degree burglary. They were in jail Thursday in lieu of $2,500 bail each.