A man was arrested last week for the 24th time — one month after his previous arrest — after being accused of breaking into an Atlanta restaurant to steal alcohol.
Kevin Darnell Jones, 51, was arrested early Thursday after being caught with multiple bottles that were stolen from Blackbird at 393 Marietta Street, Atlanta police said.
According to surveillance video, Jones used a rock to shatter one of the restaurant’s windows so he could get inside and steal from the bar, police said. The owner called police about 11:30 p.m. to report the burglary, according to an incident report.
After police left, the owner was boarding up the broken window about 1:55 a.m. Thursday and spotted Jones walking nearby, the report said. The owner gave chase and called 911 again.
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A nearby officer spotted Jones near Luckie and Parker streets and took him into custody, the report said. A bag containing the stolen liquor was found hidden in a nearby garbage can.
Jones told officers that he was going through the garbage but denied committing the burglary, the report said. However, police said he matched the person from the surveillance footage and the liquor bottles matched those stolen from the restaurant.
Fulton County Jail records list Jones as living in Grantville, but he told police he was heading to the Atlanta Mission homeless shelter.
Police charged him with second-degree burglary. He remains in jail without bond.
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He was arrested last month after being accused of a similar burglary in east Atlanta, police said. Jones has also served six stints in Georgia prisons since 2006, totaling about 5½ years, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records.
Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections
Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections
His prior convictions are all in Fulton County and include counts of burglary, cocaine possession, obstruction, second-degree criminal damage to property, entering automobiles and firearm-related charges, GDC records show.
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