MILLEDGEVILLE — The Baldwin County Sheriff's Department took a man into custody Friday suspected of a ring of local home break-ins. George Everett Stewart was arrested in Macon, after a stolen TV popped up on the Georgia Crime Information Center database days earlier.
Baldwin County law enforcement received a hit confirmation from one of the two stolen televisions Stewart attempted to sell in a Macon pawn shop. Until the state database recognized the serial number as a stolen item, the sheriff's department had no leads on the burglary cases.
There were 11 homes broken into around the Little Road area off Highway 212. The burglar usually forced entry through a rear door.
The suspect did not burglarize every home. The majority of stolen items were flat screen televisions.
Capt. Brad King of the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department said the majority of the burglaries probably took place on the same day. Authorities estimate the home break-ins date back to Nov. 1.
“I will most likely not be able to charge him with every one of them,” King said Monday. “I do feel confident we will locate some more of this property.”
There was no forensic evidence left at any home in question. King said having this type of crime in a normally quiet area leans toward a single group or individual perpetrator.
A former employer helped deputies locate Stewart Friday. King credits authorities in Bibb, Putnam and Jones counties as well as the regional Fugitive Task Force with helping to land a suspect in the case.
“Once we hit Macon, we found him in an hour,” King said.
The 43-year-old suspect has a decorated criminal history dating back to the early 1990s. Stewart has a long-time Eatonton address as well as one in Jones County.
“He's got a 30-page record,” King said.
Stewart was on parole at the time of arrest. Five televisions have been found so far but only three are from the Little Road burglaries. Two 15-inch Coby flat screen TVs have unknown owners.
Now that a suspect is in custody, county officers are searching a Macon residence for more leads on stolen property. Search warrants at the Jones and Putnam county residences turned up nothing, according to King.
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