Hartwell Man Charged with 16 Counts of Burglary in Hart County

A partial bond hearing has been held for a Hartwell man  charged with a string of burglaries going back to mid-October in Hart and Elbert Counties. 

Hart County investigators have charged Sedrick Armone Rucker, 31 of 71 Marshall Dove Road, with 16 home burglaries over a six-eight week period.  

Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland said Rucker was picked up Monday, December 8 on a domestic violence charge and confessed to the burglaries while in custody.

 “It was a week long process once he confessed of gathering the evidence and finally getting all of the paperwork together to charge him on Friday,” Cleveland said Sunday. “We had it boiled it down between him and two other guys. His arrest on the domestic violence charge led to filing the burglary charges once we got him in jail.” 

Cleveland said while in custody, Rucker confessed to the 16 burglaries in Hart County.  

“He was able to describe specifics of each case that only he and our investigators would have known,” Cleveland said. 

In addition to the 16 first-degree felony burglary charges, Rucker is charged with misdemeanor obstruction, simple battery, and probation violation.

Rucker had a partial bond hearing Monday on some of the charges, according to the Hart County Sheriff’s office and another bond hearing is scheduled in the next day or two.

Cleveland said Rucker broke into homes looking for small items, mainly jewelry, that his girlfriend could easily pawn or sell.  She also faces charges.

“His girlfriend, Jessica Jester, was charged with possession of stolen property,” Cleveland said. “She actually took some of it to one of the gold places. There’s two (gold places) in Hartwell, one in Lavonia and one in Anderson where they got rid of most of the stuff.”

Hart County authorities were able to recover some of the stolen gold jewelry, but much of it he said had already been sold at gold exchange shops in the area. 

Jester, 21 of 71 Marshall Dove Road in Hartwell, is charged with six counts of theft by receiving stolen property.

She has been released on bond. 

Meantime, Rucker has also confessed to at least seven more burglaries in Elbert County.

In Elbert County Rucker is charged with seven counts of burglary, as well as Felony Theft by Taking and Felony Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.

Rucker remains in the Hart County Jail.