According to a statement released by Montgomery County Sheriff Jeff Tompkins, a collaborative effort between Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, Winona Police Department and Carroll County Sheriff’s Department has resulted in six arrests in connection to multiple vehicle burglaries and stolen vehicles.
This all began Sunday night when at least eight vehicles were broken into in Winona, Montgomery County and Carroll County. It continued Tuesday night and included the theft of a 2015 Acura that ended up wrecked in Carroll County.
Between Sunday night and Wednesday morning more than two dozen vehicles were targeted, four of those were stolen. All four have been recovered, Tompkins stated.
According to Tompkins, a car load of stolen items were recovered from the wrecked vehicle. Guns and key fobs made up the majority of items recovered.
Around 2 a.m. on Wednesday, July 5, a Montgomery County deputy spotted the stolen Acura on Oldham Road in Montgomery County. The deputy followed and a pursuit began with the vehicle crashing into a tree on Oldham Road in Carroll County. All four occupants then fled on foot. The Winona Police Department K-9 unit pursued, and one suspect was located near Oldham and Nix Road, according to Tompkins.
While the search was taking place, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a Ford F150 pickup being stolen from Mississippi Highway 407 near a subdivision. The truck had a locator showing it was parked in a driveway on Highway 407 in Winona. Officers located it and tracked the suspects to Lewis Creek. It wasn’t long before the Montgomery County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) received a call from a concerned citizen reporting seeing three individuals, dressed in black run across Industrial Park Road in Winona. Those individuals were located and taken into custody around 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday, the release stated.
A search of a nearby barn turned up a vehicle that had not been reported as stolen at that time. It had been taken from Winona City limits.
Four suspects are in custody in Montgomery County. Three are juveniles, and one is an adult. The adult is identified as 18-year-old Joseph Anderson of Winona. Tompkins said at this time, charges include possession of stolen property and possession of stolen firearms. Other charges are pending. Two other individuals are charged with aiding and abetting.
The area targeted by the group include Church Street in Winona, the Scotland Road area, the Bluff Springs Road area, Highway 407 Garrett Subdivision, and Graysport Road and crossed all three jurisdictions -- Winona, Montgomery County and Carroll County. Tompkins said there is no way these arrests would have been made so quickly without the collaboration of all three departments.
He was quick to give God all the glory and give thanks no one was hurt.
