A man’s guilty conscience led to an arrest Thursday after he allegedly burglarized multiple storage units and left an apology note behind, Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins told The Dispatch.
Zachary Cox, 29, was charged with three counts of commercial burglary after breaking into storage buildings on Performance One Drive, just off Highway 45 North near Columbus Air Force Base. Hawkins said various items were stolen from the three storage buildings that were broken into.
“The people that were renting the place had their belongings stored in there,” Hawkins said. “Some of the items have been recovered, and some he admitted to selling.”
But the real shock was what Cox left behind – a note, complete with a phone number.
“I guess he had a guilty conscience,” Hawkins said. “He was explaining that he was addicted to drugs … and this was how he supported his habit. He was apologizing, and (saying) he’s going to make it up to them.”
Hawkins said Cox included a phone number on the note, so owners could get in touch with him. The number was ultimately traced back to a texting app.
“So we had to do a little research to find him,” Hawkins said.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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