A traffic stop and chase led Rainbow City police to recover stolen property and apparently resolve three local burglaries and a Gadsden vehicle theft, according to Rainbow City Police Chief Jonathon Horton.
Officer Blake Brown tried to stop a vehicle with improper lights about 11:45 p.m. Monday. The driver and only occupant of the vehicle got out and ran, and after a brief foot chase he was taken into custody.
Jonah Gabriel Walker, 22, admitted to his involvement in a string of recent crimes during an interview with police, Horton said in a press release.
Earlier that day, a resident on Lake Perman Road reported a 1997 Mazda B2300 truck stolen, sometime between Saturday and Monday. According to Horton, Walker admitted that theft and to stealing a Chrysler 300 taken in Gadsden.
A Gadsden woman reported she’d left the key in her 2005 car while it warmed outside her residence before heading to church. When she came out, her Chrysler was being driven away on Cherry Street, then turned onto Sixth Street.
Horton said Walker told them he accidentally caused the Chrysler to catch on fire on Perman Lake Road. Rainbow City police and firefighters responded to the burning vehicle Monday. It was destroyed by the fire.
Walker also admitted burglarizing a neighbor’s residence on Winningham Street Saturday, where firearms, multiple Apple iPads and a flat screen TV were among the items stolen.
He told police he burglarized a residence on Mountain Lake Road, the chief said. The residents there had reported a break-in and criminal mischief after a bedroom door was damaged. Nothing was taken, Horton said; the burglary was foiled when the thief found the victim’s teenage daughter at home.
Walker told detectives Je’Michael Bonner and Jason Higgins and detective Capt. Darron Walker where some stolen property could be found. They’ve recovered stolen items from residences in Rainbow City, Gadsden and Glencoe.
The detectives expect to get warrants Wednesday. They expect to charge Walker with second-degree burglary in the Mountain Lake Road break-in; third-degree burglary; two counts of first-degree theft; and third-degree criminal mischief.
Horton said Gadsden police may be obtaining warrants for the vehicle theft on Cherry Street, and Walker may be the subject of investigation in burglaries in Gadsden during the holiday weekend as well.
Walker had been arrested Nov. 20 for first-degree theft after he allegedly stole an acquaintance’s vehicle from the Circle K gas station on Rainbow Drive, according to the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office. He told investigators he got into the driver’s seat and drove away without permission. The vehicle was recovered.