SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::
The Griffin Police Department on Wednesday executed a series of search warrants in connection to an alleged property theft case involving Reece’s Open Freight Crate located 330 E. Solomon Street.
The initial search warrant in the case was conducted at the business, where three individuals were taken into custody. Two additional search warrants were soon after conducted at local residences associated with individuals connected to the business.
According to Investigator Todd Howard, of the GPD’s Criminal Investigation Division, the search warrants resulted in the recovery of a significant quantity of allegedly-stolen merchandise.
Two of the individuals taken into custody were released later the same day. The third, Rebecca Rogers, remains in custody, having been booked into the Spalding County Jail.
He said the investigation, which was initiated following the receipt of information from Special Agent Josh Pitts, of the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Unit, was aided by Home Depot.
“Everything that was removed from that store today, the victim, which is Home Depot, had a team of people come in and they were able to verify that the property was, in fact, stolen,” Howard said, describing the merchandise as power tools. “Stolen property was also recovered from a building located on the (residential) property.”
A warrant for felony theft by receiving will be taken against Rogers Thursday, Howard said.
“She is in jail and as of right now, it’s theft by receiving,” he said, confirming that Rogers is associated with Reece’s Open Freight Crate and also lived at one of the residential properties where merchandise was recovered from a large storage building.
The investigation remains active and ongoing with interviews remaining to be conducted.
Still being sought for information is Ben Reece, who Howard classified as a person of interest in the case.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Ben Reece is asked to contact Howard at 770.229.6450 or by email at thoward@cityofgriffin.com.
