Burglary suspect captured (updated)
Published 9:11 am Monday, January 12, 2015
Local law enforcement officials captured a man suspected of burglarizing the Wayside Grocery convenience store early Monday morning.
Quick work by local law enforcement officials led to the capture of a burglary suspect Monday morning in northwestern Escambia County.
Capt. Greg Forbes of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said that deputies responded at 4:15 a.m. Monday morning to a burglary alarm at Wayside Grocery, a convenience store on State Highway 21 just north of G.K. Fountain Correctional Facility.
Joel Dortch
Forbes said that the male suspect was still in the building when deputies arrived, and he then ran away on foot, leaving his vehicle behind. ECSO deputies, the Poarch Creek Tribal Police Department and the Fountain K-9 and ECSO K-9 tracking teams pursued the man and eventually took him into custody Monday morning.
According to information from the ECSO, the suspect arrested was Joel Dortch, 51, of Point Clear. He was charged with third-degree burglary and second-degree theft of property. He was booked into the Escambia County Detention Center and was awaiting a bond hearing, as of Tuesday afternoon.
ECSO officials said that it appeared Dortch had been recently paroled, due to paperwork that was found in his vehicle.
Law enforcement officials investigate the crime scene Monday morning.
Wayside Grocery owner Harold McElhaney said the suspect stole cigarettes and cash from the store. Those missing items were later recovered.
“I was very appreciative and impressed at how quickly they captured him,” McElhaney said. “I thank the Sheriff’s Department, Poarch, and especially the dog team from Fountain.”
For more information on this story, see the Wednesday, Jan. 14, edition of The Atmore Advance.
