Three are behind bars and further arrests are pending regarding a burglary on Marvin Avenue where a victim's credit card was stolen.
On April 8, Statesboro Police Det. Tommy Brown connected the use of the credit card at Murphy's Oil and Wal-Mart with evidence from video surveillance and recorded the tag number of the person who used the stolen credit card, said Capt. L. C. Williams.
A trail of clues led Brown to Georgia Southern University's Parking and Transportation Department, where he discovered further information leading him to an address a few houses down from the Marvin Avenue victim, he said.
Additional video surveillance showed a second man using the stolen credit card at Wal-Mart, he said.
The video showed both Amitakumar Dipak Patel, 21, and Mehul Jayantibhai Patel, 19, making purchases with the stolen credit card, he said.
Williams said Brown secured arrest warrants Wednesday for Amitakumar Dipak Patel as well as a search warrant for his Marvin Avenue home.
Thursday, Brown, Det. Ken Scott and Det. Sgt. James Winskey searched Patel's house and discovered items reported stolen from three different homes adjacent to Patel's home on Marvin Avenue, he said.
Amitakumar Dipak Patel was charged with three counts of burglary, one count of financial transaction card theft and four counts of financial transaction card fraud.
Mehul Jayantibhai Patel was charged with one count of financial transaction card fraud. A third man, Cole Wesley Scott, 18, was charged with theft by receiving stolen property after detectives learned he obtained items taken during the burglaries.
"Detectives ... are still gathering evidence and following all leads as t his investigation continues," Williams said. "Anyone with information on these burglaries or any other burglaries in this area should contact the Statesboro Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division at 764-1542. "
All information will be held in strict confidence, he said.