Three men have been arrested on theft and burglary charges after a series of burglaries at a local business, Brewton police said.
William Harris, Tomas Harris and Terri Bryars were arrest Dec. 17 and charged with theft of property, first degree; receiving stolen property, first degree; and burglary, second degree after an investigation pointed at the trio as the responsible parties in burglaries reported by Timberline Homes employees.
Brewton Police Sgt. Steven Ferguson said the department was first notified of the burglaries at the South Boulevard mobile home dealers lot Dec. 2.
“The business had been burglarized several times in the past few months,” Ferguson said. “We learned of the burglaries on Dec. 2. Those burglaries lead from merchandise in the mobile homes to someone stealing a camper trailer.”
Ferguson said the weeks of investigation had turned up dead ends in most instances until officers got a break in the case.
“While working traffic, an on-duty supervisor observed what he believed to be the vehicle fitting a description of a vehicle seen by employees just days before the thefts,” Ferguson said. “Business employees were able to give a description for three suspicious individuals who came to the business the day before the thefts occurred.”
Employees at Timberline reported the suspects were seen in a white Dodge pick up truck and gave false names to them during the visit to the business the day before the thefts, Ferguson said.
“The fact that the false names were given drew our attention to the suspects as possibly being involved in the crimes,” Ferguson said. “The supervisor noticed the vehicle and followed it until he stopped at David’s Catfish House.”
Ferguson said the supervisor took the opportunity to contact Timberline employees concerning the suspects.
“We picked up one of the employees and took them to identify the three suspects and the vehicle as the ones who gave false information,” Ferguson said. “After being positively identified by the employee, the three suspects were escorted to the Brewton Police Department for further questioning.”
Ferguson said the suspects were questioned about their possible involvement in the case and asked for permission to search the home of one of the suspects.
“William Harris gave our investigators consent to enter his home and look for the stolen property,” Ferguson said. “While at the home located at Shadyland Trailer Park, officers were able to identify several pieces of furniture belonging to Timberline Homes.”
Ferguson said the value of the items found at the home ranted between $5,000 and $6,000.
Following the discovery at the home of William Harris, two of the suspects cooperated with officers and were able to explain their part in the burglaries.
“The suspects also gave information about other burglaries that had occurred in different locations,” Ferguson said. “One of the burglaries was reportedly at Covington Heavy Duty Equipment. Our officers are investigating that burglary and charges in that case are pending.”
Each of the suspects was transported to the Escambia County Detention Center where they were booked on the charges.
In an unrelated case, Brewton Police officers arrested Raymond Burch on charges of first- and second-degree theft.
Lt. Rodney Brand said officers responded to a report of a theft Dec. 15 and found Burch in possession of stolen merchandise from Brewton Stockyard in his vehicle.
“As we investigated the case, we Mr. Burch had been selling the stolen items,” Brand said. “Officers found items that were also stolen from Cooper Automotive that were sold by Mr. Burch.”
Burch was transported to the Escambia County Detention Center where he was booked on the charges stemming from the theft case.