Arrests made in cross-county burglary spree
Published 3:00 am Thursday, December 18, 2014
A cross-county burglary spree may be coming to an end after Pike County Sheriff deputies arrest two in connection to Pike, Bullock and Barbour County robberies.
According to Sgt. Troy Johnson with Pike County SO, Anthony Brian Thompson, 39, and Jessica Talliferro, 33, both from Pike County, were arrested last Thursday, Dec. 11, after receiving a call from a concerned citizen.
“We received a phone call from a citizen out in the Banks area in reference to someone driving through his property,” Johnson said. “He saw the vehicle, but by the time he could get dressed and see about it, the vehicle had already left. But, he had gotten good look at it.”
The individual was able to recognize the vehicle when he again noticed the vehicle on his property as he went to leave for work. Johnson said when the individual had previously gone outside to investigate the suspicious vehicle, he noticed he had several propane tanks missing.
“He started following the vehicle, and called the sheriff’s department,” Johnson said. “The vehicle tried to allude him by going down a set of power lines. The vehicle got stuck.”
When deputies arrived on the scene, Johnson said they made contact with Thompson and Talliferro and discovered the propane tanks inside the vehicle with the two suspects. Along with the three stolen propane tanks, Johnson said deputies recovered a pop-up camper, which had been taken from a theft in Barbour County.
“We contacted authorities in Barbour County, and they are investigating the same subjects in reference to some thefts and burglaries in Barbour County, as well,” Johnson said. “During further investigation, we had also found a generator was taken out of Bullock County.”
“As of right now they’re charged with theft of property in Pike County and receiving stolen property in Bullock County,” Johnson said. “Barbour County has a hold on Thompson only for burglary third, which means they’ve got a warrant on him, but he hasn’t been arrested on it yet.”
Thompson is currently being held on $2,500 bond for theft of property and receiving stolen property. Talliferro is being charged with theft of property and is being held on $1,000 bond.
The case is still under investigation, but Sheriff Russell Thomas said the arrests of Thompson and Taliferro should put a stop to numerous thefts experienced in Bullock, Barbour and Pike Counties.
“I appreciate the hard work of my deputies, and we appreciate the community member who was alert enough to contact us,” Thomas said. “This will stop a lot of crimes because they have been on a spree for a while. We just want to continue to encourage anyone in the future who sees something out of the ordinary to notify us. We are very thankful we were able to arrest these two, and we’re thankful that this man did take the time to call.”