HENDERSON Ky. (WEHT) — Three Evansville men have been charged with theft after law enforcement say security cameras caught them breaking into cars in Vanderburgh County.
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s office said David Maurice Farmer Jr, Johnel Malik Henderson and Donya Lamont Hughes were arrested and charged with five counts of organized theft following their arrest around early Wednesday morning.
Shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday, deputies were called to a neighborhood in Daylight, IN. A homeowner told deputies he spotted three men wearing dark clothing and masks in his driveway through his security camera. He told deputies he went outside to confront the men and they ran away. When deputies arrived, they received reports of three men breaking into cars in the neighborhood.
Deputies found a car leaving the neighborhood and conducted a traffic stop at Highway 57 and Summer Hill Drive. They said they found three men wearing dark clothing inside the car.
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office told Eyewitness News the men claimed to be out fishing and deputies found masks on the floor of the car behind the driver. Items that appeared to be stolen out of cars was also found in the vehicle. As a search warrant was being prepared, the vehicle was taken to the Sheriff’s Office Forensics Garage and Farmer Jr., Henderson, and Hughes were taken to Sheriff’s Operations Center to be questioned by detectives.
VSCO said they received numerous reports of homeowners in the neighborhood experiencing car break-ins and spotting three men walking the streets on their security cameras.
As they were being questioned, the men stated to detectives they were a part of a fishing club. Detectives reported Farmer denying any involvement in the thefts. Henderson and Hughes admitted to authorities involvement in the thefts as well as others that occurred in other neighborhoods in recent weeks.
After a search warrant was obtained, detectives said they found stolen credit cards, prescription medication, checkbooks, and other items linking them to thefts from several cars. All three men were arrested and booked in the Vanderburgh County Jail with no bond. They are facing five counts of organized theft which is a level six felony. Farmer is facing additional charges of use of credit card stolen from a vehicle in a theft reported earlier this month.