STAFF REPORT :::
Two men have been arrested by the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office in connection to a burglary of the Chevron convenience store located at 3200 High Falls Road.
According to a press release issued by the Sheriff Darrell Dix, deputies of the Uniform Patrol Division responded to that location at approximately 3 a.m. July 10 in reference to a burglar alarm call.
Authorities say deputies saturated the area after discovering a front window on the store was broken, but no suspects were present.
Crime Scene Investigator Andrew Degler was one responding deputy. While en route, Degler reported observing two men walking near Mangham Road, which runs directly beside the store.
Degler said as they were walking, they were attempting to flag down vehicles. The deputy also located an SUV parked on the side of Mangham Road.
Degler notified UPD deputies, who soon located the pair of men who were identified as Dominique Raphael Akins, age 23, of 2348 Beech Ave., Macon, and Tyejuan Maurice Taylor, age 25, who claimed to be homeless.
After on-scene interviews were conducted, Akins and Taylor were transported to the Sheriff’s Office for further questioning.
“Tyejuan Taylor immediately refused to answer questions, however glass particles found in his shoes said a lot for him,” Dix said.
Authorities say during his interview, Akins admitted to investigators that he and Taylor drove to Spalding County to “hit a lick,” and that he had parked the SUV and activated the emergency flashers to make it appear their vehicle was disabled while they were away from it committing the burglary.
“When they returned to their vehicle after committing the burglary, the battery was dead because Akins forgot and left the radio on. The combination of the radio being left on and the flashers activated at the same time just killed it,” Dix said. “That led them to try and flag down vehicles, so they could get out of the area. Unfortunately for them, CSI Degler was driving an unmarked vehicle and they tried to flag him down.”
Akins and Taylor have been charged with burglary, and Taylor is facing additional charges of false name and date of birth after allegedly attempting to conceal his identity to prevent investigators from learning he is wanted on additional charges in other counties.