The former sound man for a Bartow County church and two women have been arrested and charged with burglarizing the church and using credit cards taken in the heist to try to make purchases at local stores, authorities said Monday.
Kevin Winfield Harris, 34, "was formerly the 'sound guy' for the church," Bartow County Sheriff's Sgt. Jonathan Rogers told the AJC. "The others have no connection that we know of (with the church) other than with Harris."
Harris; Shea Elizabeth Howell, 27; and Charla Alexia Obanion, 30, were being held in Bartow County Jail awaiting bond hearings on charges of burglary and multiple counts of financial transaction card fraud, according to the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office.
All three suspects are from Cartersville, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release. They were charged with the May 29 burglary of Grace Baptist Church in Bartow County. Two safes and several interior doors of church offices were damaged in the incident.
Originally, $8,000 cash was reported missing from a safe, but the actual amount turned out to be $1,000, according to Bartow Sheriff Clark Millsap. However, the thieves also stole several church credit cards.
Investigators discovered images of the three suspects allegedly trying to use the stolen credit cards on area store surveillance systems.
Howell and Harris attempted to use the cards at the Red Barn Grocery in Cartersville and Dollar General store on Cassville Road, while Obanion and Harris tried to use the cards at a Wal-Mart store in Cartersville, Rogers said.
Howell and Obanion were arrested as a result of the Sheriff's investigation, Rogers said. Harris turned himself in to the jail on Saturday.
Howell also faces drug possession charges from the Cartersville Police Department, while Obanion could face additional charges in connection with a stolen check recovered when she was arrested, authorities said.
Authorities also recovered stolen credit cards during the arrests.
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