Three accused burglars helped themselves to the same house not once, but three times.
“In their words, they ‘cleaned it out,’” Putnam County Sheriff’s Lt. Harry Luke said. “They got $15,000 to $20,000 worth of stuff out of that house.”
The burglars not only took the usual valuables, but they also stole all the food out of the refrigerator and chest freezer, cases of wine and other alcoholic beverages, and cases of sports drinks. They even stole the shampoo and body wash out of the shower and the bottle of toilet cleaner from the bathroom cabinet.
“One of them even stole the woman’s shoes because he saw that they were the same size his wife wears,” Luke said.
Out of town at the time of the burglaries, the homeowner was pleasantly surprised that 95 percent of the stolen items were quickly located and returned.
“He was real happy that we made the arrests in 48 hours and found most of his stuff,” Luke said. “He said he couldn’t believe we’d done it that fast. But we had some outstanding help from other agencies that helped it go a lot faster."
He credited the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office and Milledgeville Police Department for help with the arrest.
Accused in the burglaries are Evan Dawton Taylor, 25, of South Steel Bridge Road; Nicholas Michael Kilbourne, A.K.A. “Turkey,” 27, of North Clark St., Milledgeville; and Chadwick Chase Dunn, 24, of Shelby Lane, Milledgeville.
Luke said the thievery began Monday night, July 22, when Taylor entered two automobiles on Crooked Creek Road and stole some cash and medication.
“He’d just gotten out of jail three days earlier for the same charge,” Luke noted.
Luke said a Ring Home Security Camera on one of those houses captured the automobile being entered.
Luke said that even though the suspect’s face was hidden with a mask, his distinctive tattoo and distinctive shoes allowed law enforcement officers to identify him as Taylor. So, Taylor was arrested in a traffic stop.
Seeing the items in the car and talking with Taylor helped connect him to the house burglaries.
“When we made the traffic stop and pulled him over, the mask and shoes were in the car with him. He had spent the money from the safe on meth and marijuana, and that was in the car, too,” Luke said. “In order to help himself, he admitted to doing it, and he told us everything.”
Taylor told them that he and one of the other accused men returned the next night between 1 and 2 a.m. to the same neighborhood and used a hammer to break a window to get inside.
That night, they stole a safe with money in it and a handgun.
“Then they went back twice the next night and wiped it out,” Luke said. “The TV was too big for them to fit in their car, so they put it in the garage and were planning to go back and get it.”
They also broke into another house in the same neighborhood, but only took a bottle of cologne and some money.
In addition to the Ring camera footage, Luke said Flock cameras on the road let him know the cars that were leaving the neighborhood during the same timeframe as the burglaries.
Search warrants were obtained for the residences in Milledgeville, where the items were being stored while the accused men were in the process of listing everything online for sale.
Luke said some of the items were found at Kilbourne’s residence, and others were found at Dunn’s mother’s house and in a shed in the yard, as well as in the motel room where they arrested Dunn.
Luke said he continued to locate items through Tuesday of this week, and he is confident that everything was recovered except the money the accused offenders had spent and the alcohol they had consumed.
Taylor is in Putnam County jail facing charges of first-degree burglary (felony), two counts of entering an automobile with intent to commit theft, and possession of marijuana and possession of methamphetamine. Kilbourne is charged with first-degree burglary (felony).
Dunn is also charged with first-degree burglary (felony) and probation violation for two outstanding warrants out of Baldwin County.
Luke credited the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office detective, who came on his day off from work to help Luke, and the Milledgeville Police Department officers for their assistance in searching the property there.
“It’s nice to have friends,” he said. “They’re some good guys, some really good guys.”
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills agreed.
“They did a real good job,” Sills added.