Martin Man Charged in Ed Murdock Burglary
Johnathan Sorrows
By Charlie Bauder, WNEG Radio, Toccoa
A burglary just outside of Lavonia lands a Martin man behind bars.
It happened October 30 at the Ed Murdock Superstore in Lavonia and according to authorities, was connected to another burglary later in Martin.
Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley said it started when a Stephens County Sheriff’s deputy spotted suspicious activity at a Martin business.
“Deputies, while working the Martin area, enter a business,” said Shirley. “(The deputy) determined that he had broken into the business.”
Shirley said the deputy also noticed a new model white Ford Focus parked in the alley way by the business.
“A check of that Ford Focus revealed that it was stolen from Ed Murdock Superstore in Franklin County,” said Shirley. “As the investigation went further, deputies found another vehicle at Ed Murdock’s had been broken into and rifles had been stolen.”
Shirley says the stolen items inside the Ford Focus were from the personal vehicle of one of the dealership’s employees.
The sheriff says his office arrested Jonathon Tony Sorrows, 28 of SR17 in Martin.
Sorrows is charged with burglary, possession of tools for the commission of a crime, and two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in Stephens County.
Shirley says sorrows will also face charges in Franklin County and is currently in the Stephens County Jail on a $20,000 bond.
At the time of his arrest, Sorrows was on parole Valdosta State Prison after serving time for a theft by taking conviction in Hart County.
In a separate incident, the Sheriff Shirley said two people were arrested after an investigation last month at a home on Mona Drive in Eastanollee.
“As a result of that, we found out who was living and it was a probationer,” said Shirley. “We contacted State Probation and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit. Once deputies arrived, a vehicle drove up and a female exited the vehicle and dropped some methamphetamine and marijuana on the ground.”
The sheriff says Turpin, whose address is listed as Defoor Road, was charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and remains in the Stephens County Jail with a $30,000 bond.
The female in the vehicle, identified as 28-year-old Constance Jacobs of Mona Drive in Eastanollee, is charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana.
Jacobs also remains in the Stephens County Jail at last report with a $15,000 bond.