By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
A trespassing complaint led to last week’s arrest of a local man who was wanted in connection with thefts committed earlier this year at two Atmore businesses.
Twenty-six-year-old Dalton Harrison had been sought by city police for more than a month after several people identified him as the man caught on surveillance video at Lee’s Collision Center on June 9, when several catalytic converters were removed from vehicles there.
Another tipster notified police on September 27 that Harrison, who was also suspected of the May 6 theft of aluminum evaporators from 26 cooling units at Pepsi Cola Bottling of Atmore, might be back in town. That theft reportedly resulted in thousands of dollars in damage.
APD patrol officers were advised to be on the lookout for the suspect, who was also wanted for probation violation, and to take him into custody if he was spotted.
They didn’t have to search for very long. Harrison was the subject of a trespassing complaint about three hours after the lookout was issued.
When the officer who took him into custody searched him for weapons, he discovered a clear glass pipe that contained a crystal-like residue that field-tested positive for methamphetamine, and charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia were lodged.
An investigator interviewed Harrison the next day at the Escambia County Detention Center and was able to positively identify him as the person responsible for the thefts at Lee’s Collision and Pepsi Cola Bottling.
Harrison was charged with first-degree theft of property, first-degree criminal mischief and third-degree criminal trespass in connection with the Pepsi Bottling Company theft. He was charged with three counts of unlawful breaking and entering a motor vehicle and first-degree theft of property in the Lee’s Collision incident.
Police said the Atmore man, who remained in the county jail without bond late Monday, October 3, could possibly face additional charges as the investigation into the two incidents and other, similar thefts continues.