3 Men Charged With 21 Felonies After String of Car Break-Ins in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Three young men from Tuscaloosa were arrested this week and charged with seven felonies each after several vehicles in the area were broken into and burglarized.
According to recently filed court documents, Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's deputies were alerted to ongoing vehicle break-ins happening early Saturday morning between 4 and 6 a.m.
Deputies responded to the Lenox South subdivision off Highway 69 South near Shelton State Community College, where they attempted to pull over a Jeep Cherokee. According to the court documents, the driver of the Jeep fled the area and was pursued until driving into a dead end on 18th Street East back inside Tuscaloosa city limits.
Trapped on the street, three men reportedly bailed out of the SUV and tried to run away on foot.
All three were arrested within a few blocks of the abandoned Jeep.
Deputies said one of the men, 23-year-old Dylan Alexander Joseph, was captured wearing a stolen backpack that contained items reported missing from recent vehicle break-ins in the city and county and "numerous" other stolen items were found in and around the Jeep.
Joseph and another man, 19-year-old James Bernarel Maye, both allegedly admitted to pulling on car door handles in Lenox South to see if any vehicles were unlocked, although Joseph reportedly recanted and said he did not want to incriminate himself.
The third suspect, 19-year-old LaDarrius Tervelle Harrison, said he was driving the vehicle and knew Joseph and Maye were going through cars to see what they could take.
Ultimately, all three men were charged with seven counts each of Unauthorized Breaking and Entering of a Vehicle, which is a Class C felony in Alabama.
Maye and Joseph both remained in the Tuscaloosa County Jail Tuesday afternoon, where Maye's combined bond was set at $50,000 and Joseph's was set at $60,000.
The driver, Harrison, was not listed in the county jail database and may have been released on bond.