Suspect arrested for car break-ins
The Georgia Tech Police Department arrested Tony Jackson last month, a man suspected to be the source of a recent increase in vehicle break-ins on East Campus.
" We think Jackson is responsible for the recent increase because of the location and car he was found in. He also matched descriptions of previous witnesses, " Public Safety Officer Carla Cook said.
GTPD responded to a call reporting a suspicious male looking into vehicles in Peters Parking deck. On arrival they found Jackson in the driver ' s seat of a Nissan Frontier. There was visible broken glass on the ground. Jackson resisted arrest and gave the name Michael Ben Hall.
" The south part of campus and SUVs like the Nissan Frontier seemed to be the target recently, " Cook said.
Four other entered autos were found in the immediate area where GTPD arrested Jackson. He was charged with entering autos, giving a false name to police, obstruction of officers, criminal trespass, financial transaction card theft and theft by receiving stolen property.
Jackson is currently in jail and has a $15,000 bond. Cook said the number of reported auto break-ins decreased after his arrest.
Jackson was previously arrested Sept. 18, 2004 for receiving stolen property. Jackson ran before being detained by the GTPD, who responded to a suspicious person call. Jackson was found with a Nike bag that had been reported stolen. " It is not unusual to have multiple incidents with the same person, " Cook said.
" This same type of incident happened before. We had a surge of break-ins that ended after we arrested Antonio Kimble, " Cook said.
Kimble was arrested by the GTPD in 2003 for theft by receiving stolen property, possession of tools, criminal trespass, entering auto, interference with government property and escape.
He mainly targeted Jeeps and Hondas parked in the south and west areas of campus.
On Jan. 27, Kimble was released from Fulton County Jail. A recent crime alert warned people around campus to be on the look out for Kimble.
" We sent out a crime alert so that he could be caught before entering any vehicles, " Cook said.
" It ' s a cycle. They will break in, get arrested, and come back. We need everyone to be aware, " Cook said.
" With vehicle safety it is about a raised awareness. When we send out a mass e-mail it is like 16,000 extra officers are helping us, " Cook said, " Criminals know to watch out for police in the blue cars, but it is not as easy if everyone is on the alert. "
" Always secure valuables and be aware of your surroundings. Sometimes it is easy to forget on Tech ' s campus that we ' re in downtown Atlanta, " Cook said.
