COLUMBUS, Ind. – Local law enforcement officers recently made three arrests involving burglaries and thefts in Columbus and Bartholomew County.
The Columbus Police Department (CPD) Intelligence-Led Policing Unit (ILP), which is comprised of officers from CPD as well as the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), recognized a growing property crime trend occurring in the northeast and southeast parts of Columbus this summer, according to CPD Lt. Matt Harris. These crimes included burglaries at Nexus Park, the Columbus Bowling Center, and Whipker’s Market, plus vehicle thefts and multiple thefts of firearms from vehicles.
ILP detectives began following up on tips they had received and three suspects were identified: Dakota C. Purvis, 18, of Columbus, Antwaun T. Jones, 18, of Elizabethtown, and a juvenile male.
BCSO deputies on August 11 apprehended Jones in a vehicle that was stolen from Columbus. Columbus police officers took Purvis into custody on August 25 for the burglary at Whipker’s Market, as well as resisting law enforcement and theft of a firearm from a vehicle on Thompson Drive.
On August 26, CPD arrested Jones and a 16-year-old on burglary charges for their involvement in a break-in at the Columbus Bowling Center earlier this summer. Both Jones and Purvis remain incarcerated at Bartholomew County Jail. More arrests are possible in this ongoing investigation.