Two of the pistols recovered by officers On July 26, at 8:10 p.m., Sergeant Brad Cox of the Miller County Sheriff’s Office received a call to a residence on Phillipsburg Road to a burglary that had just occurred. When Sergeant Cox arrived, he spoke with the victim and found that there were guns and money missing from the residence. Sergeant Cox also spoke to witness that saw a subject run from the residence and another walking back and forth in front of the residence. At this time Sheriff H.E. Glass arrived on scene and contacted Chief Investigator Ben Nix and advised him to be en route to the scene. When Investigator Nix arrived. he was advised by Sheriff Glass that there were guns and money and that the suspect had fled out of the front door of the residence.

Investigator Nix and Deputy B.J. Josey processed the scene. When Chief Deputy Rathel arrived Sheriff Glass, Investigator Nix and Sergeant Cox met and agreed that a positive ID of the offenders was needed by the witness before they were picked up. Chief Deputy Rathel with help from a member of the Miller County High School staff developed a photo lineup. The line-up was presented to the witness where the subjects were ID as two juveniles from Miller County.

More stolen goods recovered. Investigator Nix called Chief Scott Worsley of the Colquitt Police Department and advised him that the two subjects that here I. D. was the same two subjects that Chief Investigator Rick Morgan was working two burglary cases on. Chief Worsley, Chief Investigator Morgan and Investigator Kenny Kirkland arrived on scene and met up with Sheriff Glass and his deputies. All the law enforcement units went to the juveniles’ residences. Chief Investigator Nix spoke with the first juvenile’s mother and also the juvenile where he told Investigator Nix that he was the watch out for the second suspect. The juvenile was taken into custody by law enforcement. Chief Investigator Nix then walked to the second suspect’s residence where he spoke with the second juvenile’s mother and the suspect. The second suspect denied knowing anything about the burglary. Chief Investigator Nix then asked the juvenile’s mother for consent to search of her residence for the property that was stolen.

While deputies and officers were searching the residence, the juvenile told Sergeant Cox that the guns stolen in the burglaries were located in the bathroom closet. Chief Investigator Nix and Sergeant Cox went into the bathroom with the juvenile, and he pointed out the location of the guns. Investigator Nix recovered the weapons, a 9 mm and a 32 cal. Investigator Nix saw that the 9 mm serial numbers were scraped, and there was a screw driver lying in the area where the weapon was recovered. There were also other items that were recovered from the residence.

While deputies and officers were searching the residence, Chief Deputy Rathel spoke with the first juvenile where he told Chief Deputy Rathel that they were also involved in the city burglaries. The second juvenile was detained for questioning. Both subjects were transported to the Miller County Sheriff’s office along with their mothers. Chief Deputy Rathel and Chief Investigator Nix questioned the first juvenile where he admitted in detail all of the burglaries that he and his co-defendant had committed. One burglary was in Miller County, and two were in Colquitt. While the first juvenile was being questioned, Chief Investigator Rick Morgan and Sergeant Brad Cox questioned the second juvenile where he also admitted to the same burglaries. After the questioning of the suspects was over and all the witness were questioned and there residence were searched for stolen property deputies and officers scouted the area where the suspects stated they had stashed the stolen property.

The officers made contact with juvenile services where they stated the two suspects were to be taken to Regional Youth Detention Center.

As the investigation continued at 3:30 p.m. the next day, Chief Deputy Rathel and Chief Worsley were asking one of the offenders where some jewelry was stashed; the suspects both agreed to show where the items were hidden. Chief Worsley and Chief Deputy Rathel recovered and photographed the stolen items and placed them into evidence.

The two juveniles were transported to Regional Youth Detention Center.