The Picayune Police Department recently arrested two men involved in a string of commercial burglaries.

On Sunday, June 14, officers were dispatched to three businesses throughout the city in reference to those burglaries, Assistant Chief Jeremy Magri said.

Items reported as stolen included a bicycle and tools. The tools were stolen from one of the businesses and later recovered by police at another business where a separate burglary occurred, Magri said.

Investigators observed a smashed cash register at one of the businesses. It appeared the suspects attempted to steal money from the register but were unsuccessful, Magri said.

The suspects were later identified as 33-year-old Preston Thomas of 3152 Apt. H Jackson Landing Rd. and 19-year-old Michael Thomas of the same address, Magri said.

Earlier that day, a patrol officer questioned both suspects in an unrelated matter after observing them walking past the police station that morning, Magri said.

“Due to the amount of burglaries the department has been working on, the officer asked what they were doing,” Magri said.

The officer identified the men but had no cause to arrest them at that tine, Magri said.

When the commercial burglaries were reported and officers were dispatched to each location, the patrol officer told investigators about the two suspicious men he spoke with earlier, Magri said.

Through investigation of the case, detectives were able to link both suspects to the three burglaries through physical evidence found at the businesses, Magri said.

On June 17 at 7:22 p.m., officers arrested both suspects at the intersection of Grover Barrett and Jackson Landing Road, Magri said.

Both were charged with three counts of commercial burglary each, Magri said.