A 35-year-old Juliette man was arrested March 3 on charges stemming from a Dec. 23 burglary and a July 26 attempted burglary at the Senoia Drug Company on Ga. Highway 16.
Rico Ussery was charged with burglary and attempted burglary, according to Senoia Investigator Jason Ercole.
Arrests warrants for burglary and attempted burglary have also been issued for 22-year-old North Carolina resident Denzel Kewon Poole, though Poole has yet to be taken into custody, Ercole said.
In relaying the series of events that led to the arrest, Ercole said officers in the early morning hours of July 26 responded to an alarm call at the pharmacy. They discovered that someone had cut through an exterior wall to gain entry and had stolen more than 3,400 hydrocodone pills in various strengths, said Ercole.
The store’s video showed an individual wearing a mask, gloves and dark clothing. Evidence was obtained even though the identity of the burglary remained unknown, said Ercole.
Ercole said the case stalled until the early morning hours of Dec. 23 when an officer stopped a vehicle with a non-working tail light in the area of the pharmacy that was driven by Ussery. The officer discovered that Ussery had a suspended license and was wanted in another jurisdiction for failure to appear, Ercole said. Also in Ussery’s possession was Poole’s identification card, Ercole added.
Ussery at the time was arrested for the suspended license and the failure to appear charge.
Meantime, the pharmacy reported what investigators determined to be an attempted burglary on Dec. 23 where someone tried to cut away at the door and pry it open, said Ercole. The attempt at 3:10 a.m. was abandoned prior to the individual successfully entering the building, Ercole said.
Ercole said a break in the case came when the patrol officer told investigators about stopping Ussery at about the same time and in a location near the pharmacy. Following up on information provided by officers, investigators obtained and executed a search warrant for Ussery’s possessions and vehicle, Ercole said.
Investigators during subsequent weeks determined the need for additional search warrants. Based on the execution of those warrants and the additional information obtained, an arrest warrant was issued during the last week of February. The information linked Ussery and Poole to the July 26 burglary and the Dec. 23 attempted burglary, Ercole said.
Ercole said Ussery was arrested March 3 after arriving at the police department to inquire about the citations he received on Dec. 23. Ussery came to the police department before investigators were able to travel to Juliette to arrest him, Ercole said.
