Teens charged with breaking into more than 30 cars, Lexington County sheriff says

Noah Feit
·2 min read
1

Two teenagers from Georgia were charged with breaking into more than 30 cars in Columbia in early October, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said.

A search is underway for a third person who is accused of being part of the Georgia-based theft ring’s crime spree, the sheriff’s department said Monday in a news release.

Quadriquez Malik Poole, a 19-year-old Ellenwood, Georgia, resident, was charged with 38 counts of breaking into vehicles, vehicle theft, second-degree burglary and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the release. Ellenwood is in the Atlanta area, more than 200 miles from where the crimes occurred.

Bond was set at $256,000 on the combined charges and Poole remains behind bars at the Lexington County Detention Center, jail records show.

The name of the second teen, who the sheriff’s department said is also from Georgia, was not made public because he is under the age of 18. Information on the charges the minor is facing were not available, but he is being held by the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice, according to the release.

“The break-ins from this case happened the first week of October at several places between the 1200 and 2800 blocks of Bush River Road,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said in the release. That’s in a portion of Columbia that is located in Lexington County.

“There was one burglary associated with this investigation that happened in that same area Oct. 6,”

Koon said one of the burglaries happened in that same area Oct. 6. A detective contacted the teens hours after the burglary and arrested them after a short foot chase, according to the sheriff.

“We’ve recovered some of the stolen property and return it to the owners,” Koon said. “We got the car back, a gun, some electronics and a lot of debit and credit cards.”

Koon said more charges and arrests are likely.

There was no word how a third person was connected to the burglaries, and information about that suspect was not available. There was no word why the teens from Georgia were targeting vehicles in South Carolina.

Anyone with information on the third person, or the car break-ins, is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip.