Two 16-year-old Barnett’s Cross Roads residents were taken into custody by members of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department with assistance from the Conecuh County Sheriff’s Department.

Escambia County Chief Deputy Mike Lambert said the two teens were taken into custody following an investigation into stolen property from a Charlie Dawson Road address.

The location of the theft is near Interstate 65 behind Huddle House, Lambert said.

“An asphalt company, APAC, was using the site to temporarily store materials while they were working in the area,” Lambert said. “No one stayed there all the time and wasn’t checked on a regular basis. The owner, Daniel Mack Milton, came by to check on it on Monday, Feb. 21, and found what he determined to be more than $50,000 worth of materials missing. An undetermined amount of damage had also been done. There were also some items left behind, such as flashlights, grinders and torches.”

Lambert said materials discovered missing at the site included doors from hoppers, a motor generator pipe and large pieces of sheet metal.

Following an investigation, officers later located items reported missing in the case in the Owassa community.

Lambert said Conecuh County Sheriff’s Department assisted in the investigation that lead to the two juvenile suspects.

“The juveniles and their parents were contacted,” Lambert said.

“They were from around the Barnett’s Cross Roads area and when questioned, they confessed to taking the materials.”

The two suspects, whose names were not released due to their age, were turned over to the juvenile authorities and transported to the Juvenile Detention Center in Baldwin County.

Each has been charged with theft of property, first degree; criminal mischief, first degree; and burglary, third degree.