A Lithonia man suspected of being a “serial burglar,” according to Atlanta police, was arrested Saturday when officers discovered he had active arrest warrants during a traffic stop.
Jarvis Smith was detained by officers responding to a suspicious person call near the intersection of McPherson Avenue and Maynard Terrace, an Atlanta Police Department news release said. Smith was arrested when officers confirmed he had outstanding warrants for burglary and theft by taking.
The investigation began when a supervisor dispatched to help with the call happened to recognize Smith at the scene, according to the news release. Officers spotted Smith riding a scooter with no brake light, which allowed them to detain him and check his background records.
After officers discovered Smith’s outstanding warrants, they placed him in custody without incident and took him in for interviews with the APD’s Burglary Unit, the news release said.
Investigators believe Smith is behind several shed burglaries in APD’s Zone 6, which stretches east from Midtown toward Decatur. The charges included in Smith’s arrest warrants were related to a burglary that took place Aug. 10, nearly a month before his arrest, according to jail records.
Police did not release further information about the number of burglaries, where they took place or what items were taken.
Smith was booked into the Fulton County Jail, where he remains on $15,000 bond, jail records show.
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