PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and Clay County Sheriff’s Office teamed up to bust what they call a multi-county convenience store burglary ring, and arrest two men on Friday.
Putnam County deputies were called around 4:30 a.m. Friday to Hall’s convenience store on North Highway 17 regarding a burglary. The business owner said he was remotely monitoring the store’s surveillance cameras when he saw a car approach the building.
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Deputies saw two men run into nearby woods.
Putnam K-9 units assisted deputies in finding Andre Rawls, 31, and Jerry West, 55. Both men are from Jacksonville, officials said.
The car seen in the surveillance video belonged to West, officials said.
After searching West’s car, deputies found hundreds of cartons of stolen cigarettes and other evidence that connected Rawls and West to another Putnam County burglary about 30 minutes earlier, authorities said.
The first burglary was reported at the Sunoco gas station on South Highway 17 in East Palatka.
Detectives determined that Rawls and West were also suspected in convenience store burglaries in Alachua County, Clay County and Palatka.
Rawls and West were charged with two counts of burglary and one count of theft.
West is also being held for the Florida Parole Commission and the Bradford County sheriff. Both suspects remain in the county jail. Rawls is being held on a $12,500 bond, and West is being held without bond.