Four arrests made after string of thefts

Published 4:35 pm Tuesday, July 9, 2013

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Body wash, soap, lotion and other personal hygiene products were stolen from several Dollar General stores on Monday.Body wash, soap, lotion and other personal hygiene products were stolen from several Dollar General stores on Monday.

Four Montgomery residents were arrested Monday in connection with a string of thefts, including Dollar General stores in Clanton and Thorsby.

Bobby Manora, 50; Angela Delores Wilson, 41; Beatric Lasandra Vaughn, 34; and Shekelia Wilson, 21; were arrested in Clanton thanks to cooperation between Clanton’s and Thorsby’s police departments, TPD Chief Rodney Barnett said.

Thorsby police were dispatched to the town’s Dollar General store at 4:49 p.m. As officer Leah Wilkins arrived, the store’s manager pointed out the suspects’ vehicle parked at a nearby fuel station.

The vehicle sped away, causing Wilkins to lose sight, but she put out a “be on the lookout” notice with the vehicle’s description.

Shortly thereafter, Clanton police officer Jay Edwards stopped the vehicle near Sonic in Clanton, apparently moments after the group had shoplifted from another Dollar General store nearby.

“When citizens work together along with law enforcement, good things can happen and do happen,” Barnett said.

Officials think the group stole from Dollar General stores in Calera and Jemison in addition to the ones in Thorsby and Clanton–all on the same day.

Officers confiscated more than 50 sticks of deodarant, more than 60 bars of soap and similar quantities of other personal hygiene products like body wash, lotion and toothpaste from the suspects’ vehicle.

Officers also confiscated three large purses and one backpack that the suspects were apparently using in the thefts.

Barnett said investigators are unsure why the suspects targeted these particular items.

All four suspects were being held in Chilton County Jail as of Tuesday afternoon, awaiting charges from various agencies.