By Jeremy Pittari, Item Staff Writer
The Picayune Item
PICAYUNE —
A commercial burglary that occurred early Thursday morning was solved the same day by Picayune Police Department officers and investigators with the arrest of 44-year-old Richard Carver.
The case began as a call concerning a break-in at the B&K convenience store and gas station on U.S. Highway 11 just after 3 a.m., said Assistant to the Chief of Police Jeremy Magri. Officers arrived to speak to the witness who called in the crime after noticing the broken window and a hammer on the floor near the broken window. The alarm to the business had somehow not been set off during the crime, Magri said.
After the business owner arrived on scene to survey the damage and determine what was missing, apparently only about 14 cartons of Newport cigarettes had been taken, Magri said. Review of the business’ surveillance footage showed a man breaking into the business by throwing a hammer through the window and then using a garbage can to load and transport the cartons of cigarettes out of the store between 1 and 1:30 a.m.
The description of the suspect and the clothes he was wearing was noted by investigators from the surveillance footage, Magri said. That garbage can was later found on Martin Luther King Boulevard with blood on it, Magri said.
Later that same day just after 9 a.m. the department received a call of a suspicious man sleeping in a car near a automotive repair shop located near the Roadrunner convenience store, Magri said. Officers arrived on scene and located the car, but the man was no longer inside, instead the man, identified as Carver, who had a last known address of 2501 Laura Dr., was located at the nearby convenience store and a bag containing cartons of cigarettes was located on the sitting area in front of the store, Magri said.
Officers talked with Carver since he matched the description of the man seen in the surveillance footage taken from the B&K gas station. Magri said Carver also had several lacerations on his hands and face. Blood was noted on the cartons of cigarettes in the bag and review of the Roadrunner’s surveillance footage showed Carver putting the bag on the sitting area.
Carver was charged with commercial burglary and taken into custody.
