Suspects arrested in ATM thefts
Oct. 10—Three suspects are behind bars after they reportedly stole a vehicle and an ATM machine in Milledgeville on Saturday morning, local authorities say.
The theft of the ATM machine, valued at $8,000, as well as 26 $20 bills that totaled $520, was stolen from Robins Financial Credit Union at 2584 North Columbia Street, said Maj. Linc Boyer, commander of the road patrol division with the Milledgeville Police Department.
Police were alerted to the business by an alarm from the ATM, according to an incident report filed by Officer L. Aultman.
The crime led to a brief manhunt by police officers and deputies with the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office. A K-9 team from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, which included Deputy Chris Donavan and his dog "Nix," also were called to the scene for assistance in the search.
While en route to the call, Aultman said a witness to the crime called authorities and said she saw three men, all described as Black, attempting to steal the ATM from the credit union. Aultman said Boyer was the first law enforcement officer to arrive on the scene. Boyer said all three men immediately fled on foot, and that he chased one of them.
Boyer captured the first suspect after he chased him up a steep hill just south of Walmart's Murphy USA. That particular suspect was later identified as Deonte John Living, 22, of Carencro, Louisiana.
Aultman said he later talked with the witness, who provided authorities with a description of what type of clothing the other two suspects were wearing.
A white pickup truck, later identified as a Ford 250 with a Georgia license plate, was discovered in the parking lot of Murphy USA. There, police also found chains attached to the ATM.
"The front of the ATM was torn off, exposing the inside where the money was located," Aultman said in his report.
Living, meanwhile, was taken from the scene to the Baldwin County Law Enforcement Center, where he was jailed. The suspect had an "investigative hold" placed on him.
Aultman said when he returned from the jail, he learned that the other two suspects had fled south toward Volume Hyundai. The duo reportedly were carrying a black box from the ATM. The officer later found the box behind the car dealership's maintenance shop on the other side of a wooden fence in a wood line.
MPD Officer Raymond Borders said while watching an area at the intersection of Melody Way and Sherry Drive, Deputy Donovan and his K-9 arrived at the scene and began tracking through a nearby wooded area at the rear of Volume Hyundai.
"I observed two males come out of the wood line at the creek behind Arby's on the north side of Melody Way; cross over the roadway, and back down into the creek on the southside," Borders said. The officer said at that point, he and other law enforcement officers were able to establish a perimeter, which led to the capture of a second suspect. He was later identified as Jamyrick Weston Woods, 21, of Katy, Texas.
Less than a half-hour later, the third suspect was taken into custody. He was found hiding under a vehicle near the Days Inn motel, Borders said in his report. The third suspect was identified as Jacoby Arceneaux, 21, also of Carencro, Louisiana.
Borders said, after he arrived at the county jail with Woods, that in the booking room Woods pulled out a large sum of $20 bills from his left front pocket.
"Woods stated the money was his, and I advised him and BCLEC jailers the money was going to be taken and placed into evidence," Borders said.
The money totaled $520.
Boyer said each of the suspects are charged with the following offenses: theft by taking of a motor vehicle, theft by taking of a ATM, possession of tools during the commission of a crime, criminal damage to property, and one count each of obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
The case remains under investigation by detectives with the Milledgeville Police Department.
