A Georgiana man is in jail following a string of burglaries that took place early Friday morning.

Charlie Ray Sexton, Jr., 31, was arrested Friday and charged with four counts of burglary, third degree; criminal mischief, first degree; two counts of criminal mischief, second degree; criminal mischief, third degree; theft of property, second degree; and two counts of theft of property, third degree.

He is currently being held at the Butler County Correctional Facility on a $73,000 bond.

“We’re certainly glad to be able to make this arrest,” said Chief Lonzo Ingram. “Sometimes with property crimes like this, when you solve one you end up solving several others as was the case here. I’d like to commend our investigators for the work they did in solving these crimes and patrol for assisting in the arrest.”

Capt. Justin Lovvorn, commander of the GPD’s Criminal Investigations Division, said the investigation began after officers responded to an alarm call around 5 a.m. at Raybon’s Grocery on South Conecuh Street.

“An unknown individual had forced his was into the business and taken several items from inside including a handgun,” said Lovvorn. “Shortly after this call, officers began to receive calls of other break-ins within the city.”

According to Lovvorn, the suspect also broke into F&S Tire on Hwy. 31 and the  Corner Wash House on North Conecuh Street sometime late Thursday night or early Friday morning. The suspect also stole an air conditioner from Deliverance Temple on Aztec Road during the spree, according to authorities.

“Several items were reported stolen from each of the businesses,” Lovvorn said. “Investigators were called out to process the crime scenes and were able to use evidence found and collected from the scenes to not only connect all the burglaries, but to develop a suspect within an hour of arriving on the scene.”

Because of the evidence collected at the crime scenes, police were able to obtain a warrant for Sexton’s arrest.

“Investigators and officers from patrol then went to Charlie Ray Sexton, Jr.’s residence in Georgiana,” Lovvorn said. “The suspect ran into a wooded area by his residence as officers arrived at his residence. After a brief search of the wooded area, the suspect was located and placed into custody.”

Lovvorn said when confronted with the evidence, Sexton confessed to the break-ins.

“Investigators were also able to locate and seize the handgun and air conditioner unit that had been taken in the burglaries, as well as the majority of all the other items taken by the suspect,” Lovvorn said.