By By ROBERT BLANKENSHIP – Managing Editor
Two suspects wanted by the Escambia County Sheriff's Office on burglary charges were arrested by authorities in Florida where they were allegedly caught in the act of another burglary.
Kenneth Lexter Baxley, 35, and Deborah Warren Henderson, 35, were both arrested on Monday, Oct. 21, after allegedly burglarizing a home in Marianna, Fla.
Deputies with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office responded to a burglary in progress call at a home in Marianna. The caller allegedly found Henderson and Baxley at his residence when he returned home. When the couple left, he followed them and alerted authorities.
The suspects, driving a 1997 white Honda Accord with South Carolina license plates, were located by deputies who attempted to stop the vehicle.
According to Escambia County Sheriff Tim Hawsey, Henderson, who was allegedly driving at the time, led the deputies on a short pursuit and then stopped at the intersection of Farm Road and Old U.S. Road. Baxley, who was in the passenger's seat, fled on foot and was apprehended a few minutes later after an alleged altercation with an officer.
ECSO investigators went to Jackson County and met with other investigators and federal agents involved in similar investigations involving the two suspects.
Hawsey said evidence recovered will help prove that the Baxley and Henderson were guilty of several burglaries.
According to Hawsey, investigators also recovered stolen checks, driver's licenses, birth certificates and other types of identification.
In Escambia County, Baxley and Henderson are charged with three separate burglaries and a forgery case.
Baxley has an extensive record in Florida, consisting of weapons violations and burglaries. He has been convicted of about 20 felonies. Hawsey said that based on his criminal background and the new weapons violations, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol-Tobacco-Firearms (ATF) are assisting in the case. He said that federal charges are expected to be handed down against Baxley.