A break-in at a Lowndes County vehicle barn has officials considering more stringent security at county facilities.
Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office arrested two men last week in connection with the incident. LCSO Capt. Ryan Rickert said deputies arrested 34-year-old Edward Jones, of Columbus, on Aug. 8. He said Jones is suspected of burglarizing a county building, two counts of felony vehicle theft, and one count of arson.
Justin Painter, 25, of Columbus turned himself in the next day, Rickert said. Painter faces burglary and felony vehicle theft charges.
County Administrator Ralph Billingsley said the barn break-in has prompted discussions with county Information Technology Director Lance Bishop on how to strengthen security.
“I’ve had discussions with most of the supervisors about maybe a desire to look into that,” Billingsley said. “Lance thinks that with the road department, for maybe $500 a (barn), we can buy the cameras and he can repurpose some old computers to save footage on that.”
Rickert said Jones stole a truck from Perma Corporation, located at 125 Armstrong Road, took it to the Lowndes County vehicle barn in Caledonia, set it on fire, and then stole a Lowndes County pickup. He said Jones later went to Pickens County, Alabama, where he left the Lowndes County truck to steal another truck. Law enforcement officers found Jones in the truck and arrested him after a foot chase.
Jones was denied bond. He also faces an array of older charges, including another burglary charge, possession of methamphetamine, contempt of court and three charges for failure to appear.
During Monday’s meeting, county Road Manager Ronnie Burns told the board about the Aug. 8 break-in.
“They told me that we had a break-in at the barn and a truck was on fire,” Burns said. “We went down there to see what was going on, and it happened to be one of the Perma Corp. trucks that was on fire. We went inside and they had broken in and gotten two of our pickups, knocked down a gate, went inside and stole some chainsaws and a pole saw.”
Burns said the alleged thieves also took a mosquito sprayer, a fuel tank and some toolboxes.
Burns said one truck was recovered the next day in Liberty, Alabama. The other was recovered Wednesday on Highway 69.
“We’ve recovered about all of our stuff,” he said. “We’ve got one fuel tank and a pump still missing, and we’ve got four toolboxes and one chainsaw (still missing).”
District 2 Supervisor Bill Brigham recommended the county look at all its facilities for additional security options.
“Anything that we own, I think we ought to have some cameras on it for protection,” he said. “I think we also should look at some alarm systems that contact 911.”
Supervisors unanimously voted to allow Bishop to draft recommendations and estimated costs to present to the board.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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