Burglary Suspect Apprehended After Running out of Gas

A Dacula man suspected of crashing his vehicle into a convenience store early Friday morning during a burglary was arrested later that day after his getaway vehicle ran out of gas.

deputies responded to a smash and grab burglary at the on Ga. Highway 211 at Rockwell Church Road in Winder. Deputies arrived within minutes of the alarm sounding and found the front glass doors had been smashed as a result of an apparent vehicle collision. Cigarettes and lottery tickets were missing, and no vehicles remained at the scene. 

Deputies found red paint on the metal frame of the doors and pieces of a tail light lens on the property. After searching the area, deputies located an abandoned 2003 red Ford Expedition on Highway 53 near Mulberry Road. The vehicle had damage consistent with the evidence found at the scene, and cigarettes and lottery tickets were plainly visible inside.

The driver of the vehicle, 41-year-old Micah James Mitchell, was located walking down the highway by a Jackson County deputy, who transported the suspect back to his Expedition where he was placed under arrest.

Barrow County Sheriff’s investigators are working with investigators from the town of Braselton and Gwinnett County to determine if two similar smash and grab incidents that occurred Friday in Braselton and Dacula are related to the Barrow incident.

Mitchell is charged with smash and grab burglary, criminal damage to property in the second degree and theft by taking.