105 Cases Cleared Through Burglary Investigation

August 26, 2013

Escambia investigators say they have busted a burglary ring responsible for over 100 burglaries in Escambia and Santa Rosa County involving stolen goods  valued at $120,000.

Timothy Godwin, Henry Birchmore and Jason Godwin, broke into homes since April 2013 that were vacant, for sale, for rent, in renovation or  in foreclosure, stealing major appliances including stoves, refrigerators and air conditioning units, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

The investigation included a total of 88 reported burglaries or thefts in Escambia County. Warrants were prepared or arrests were made in 66 of those cases. Santa Rosa County had 18 additional cases in which they obtained seven warrants. In addition to the burglary and theft cases, officers worked 10 additional spin-off cases for other crimes.

Officers have recovered several of the major appliances and air conditioners and are still trying to identify and locate more of the property.

On July 14, Timothy Godwin was arrested on an outstanding warrant from one of the initial cases related to this investigation, and Birchmore was arrested on outstanding warrants unrelated to the case and narcotics violations. Both have been incarcerated since that time.  Birchmore and Timothy Godwin have already been charged in eight  cases.

Jason Godwin, Timothy’s brother, has outstanding warrants on six cases.

On August 23, 128 warrants were sent to the court for judicial review. A total of 105 cases have been cleared through this investigation according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

Comments

5 Responses to “105 Cases Cleared Through Burglary Investigation”

  1. Ben Thar on August 26th, 2013 4:32 pm

    Curious. If I were to steal an air conditioner or a stove, I would have no idea where to sell it. Are these folks just putting ads in the Thrifty Nickel?

    If not, who is the one buying this many appliances?

  2. jeeperman on August 26th, 2013 12:06 pm

    How long of a period were these burglaries spread out over?

  3. mick on August 26th, 2013 11:52 am

    they should all get at least 35 or 40 years, that way they will be too old to lift heavy appliances…scumbags.

  4. molino jim on August 26th, 2013 11:39 am

    I wonder how many people are wondering right now— was that A/C unit/stove/refrig. I bought for such a good price from one of these fellows stolen. People still will say “I didn’t know it was stolen” after they only paid 10 cents on the dollar for items such as this. It’s almost the same as some people are so lucky– they find watches/rings/TV’s and all sorts of stuff on the side of the road. GOOD JOB–LEO’s

  5. James Patterson on August 26th, 2013 10:25 am

    Hey boys enjoy your time away. You dun your parents proud!