Released by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office …
Spanning three states and more than 10 counties, Carl Thomas Edmondson, III, has been arrested for stealing more than $200,000 in telecommunications equipment from AT&T and Centruy Link over a period of weeks. Edmondson’s alleged burglary spree came to an end with an arrest on Monday night after he was identified by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
In a press conference this morning at the Sheriff’s Department Washington County Sheriff Kevin Crews reported that he had received a call from an employee of Century Link Corporate Security on July 2nd explaining that multiple thefts had occured at junction box sites throughout the Tri State area. The equipment stolen was estimated at about $200,000.
Crews said that the Sheriff’s Department immediately began an operation to catch the suspect.
On July 8th, just after 2 p.m., the Washington County Sheriff’s Department received a call from an AT&T technician reporting a theft at a site on Onange Hill Road.
During the investigation, the Sheriff’s Department was able to piece together the tag number on the vehicle utilizing covert surveillance techniques. The vehicle was identified as a rental unit from a national rental company. Investigators located the renter of the vehicle used in the burglary, which led them to identifying Edmondson as the suspect.
With the assistance of the Heny County Alabama Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Dale County Alabama Sheriff’s Office, and the Ozark Alabama Police Department, Edmondson was taken into custody and thousands of dollars in equipment was recovered.
Edmondson was booked into the Dale County Jail on a Washington County warrant for buglary of an unoccupied structure and grand theft, where is is currently resisting extradition. Additional charges are pending further investigation.
Sheriff Crews stated that the investigation is ongoing and other suspects are being investigated.
