A stolen Gibson Les Paul custom-made vintage guitar worth more than $10,000 was recovered, and the thieves who stole it have been arrested. Joseph Payne, 42, of Iowa, and Dezanne Davis, 33, are in jail charged with two counts of theft by receiving stolen property and one count of theft by deception. Payne is also being charged with possession of crack cocaine. The pair attempted to pawn the custom-made Gibson guitar shortly before 10 a.m. at the Welsh Pawn Shop at 402 West Broughton Street. As they were leaving the store, the owner of the guitar walked in and identified the guitar sitting on the counter. The pair then fled from the store and ran west on Broughton Street. Police responded to the store and a lookout was posted. After a brief search in the area, Davis was arrested in Yamacraw Village while Payne was arrested near the Greyhound Bus Station. Police recovered the guitar along with an amplifier from the pawnshop and returned the items to the owner.
• An officer responded to an alarm at an Abercorn Street convenience store. On arrival, the officer noted that the front exit door was missing its lock mechanism and was unsecured. The officer waited until back-up arrived and cleared the store. Inside, police found that four video games had their padlocks cut off and the money inside had been stolen. The store manager arrived a short time later with two co-workers. They were able to access the store’s video surveillance system, which had taped the entire burglary. It showed a car pulled into the south side of the building’s parking lot. The driver got out of the vehicle and approached the front of the store to look around before returning to the car. The vehicle then left the parking lot. A few minutes later, the vehicle returned and parked in Park Lane behind the store. The driver and two other men got out and approached the exit door. Once there, they quickly removed the door’s lock by an unknown means and entered the store. Once inside, they ran to the video machines and used bolt cutters to cut off the padlocks. The store employees believed they recognized at least one of the burglars and were attempting to find video of him as a customer in the store. The owners of the video games were due to pick up their money that morning. The amount of money stolen wasn’t known.
• Two officers were stopped by a concerned citizen who said there were two men walking east on Henry street with T-shirts wrapped around their faces who were carrying guns. One of the officers immediately drove south on Dieter Street to Henry, while the other drove south on Bee Road to Henry. The first officer exited his vehicle and ordered the two men to come to him, but they continued to walk away. The officer then approached the men at a 45-degree angle with his weapon drawn and ordered them to stop and put their hands in the air. After they complied, they were told to lie on the ground and were handcuffed.The second officer had stopped a third man who they initially believed wasn’t involved. That man was released. After the two men were searched and placed in separate vehicles, the first officer spoke with a security guard who was parked in the area. The guard said he had seen all three men walking east on Henry Street from the direction of Ash Street. Two of the men had white T-shirts pulled over to their faces so that only their eyes were visible. The guard got out of his vehicle and told them they should remove the T-shirts. One complied, but the other didn’t. All three men walked past the guard, then turned around and began to walk back towards him. By that point, the police had arrived. Robbery detectives were called in and two of the men were arrested for carrying concealed weapons. A check was made to see if either man had been involved in crimes in that area. ƒç
• An officer on routine patrol noticed a man carrying a large garbage bag in the vicinity of West 38th and Montgomery streets. As the officer approached, the man began to speed his pace up. As the officer turned, the man dropped the bag behind a tree and started walking in the other direction. The man was asked to stop. The officer asked him what was in the bag and he said it was copper tubing from his friend’s truck. After his story changed, the officer asked the man for his name. When his ID was run through dispatch, it came back that there was a warrant for his arrest in South Carolina. The man was arrested and taken to jail.