Suspect arrested for restaurant burglaries
By JOHN A. WINTERS
john@newnan.com
Authorities have arrested a suspect for a series of burglaries over the past three years, including several at an area restaurant chain.
Christopher Lee Lucas, from Lindale, is charged with four counts of burglary for burglarizing the Wings N' Things restaurant. The incidents occurred in December 2010, September 2011, and January and March 2012, according to Investigator Chad McDonald with the Coweta County Sheriff's Office.
"During the time period that the Wings N’ Things burglaries were occurring in Coweta, our investigators made contact with investigators throughout metro Atlanta and west Georgia," McDonald said. "These investigators reported commercial burglaries with video footage showing a suspect whose physical description, clothing description, and methods matched those of our burglar."
Lucas also is charged with several burglaries away from his hometown outside of Rome.
"He preferred to drive to other areas where he was unknown, sometimes hours away, to do so," McDonald said, adding Lucas also is charged with burglaries in Peachtree City and Tyrone, as well as Carroll, Cherokee, Polk, and Catoosa counties.
Lucas was arrested after an anonymous tip on the Facebook page of Rome Police Department led to him being identified by their detectives after he burglarized a Huddle House in Rome in March, according to McDonald.
On April 13 the Peachtree City Police Department, in coordination with the Rome Police Department, charged Lucas with seven counts of felony burglary, according to spokesperson Captain Rosanna Dove. The Peachtree City charges are the result of an ongoing investigation into a series of commercial burglaries there.
Between December 2010 and January 2012, Lucas targeted businesses that are west of Commerce Drive and along Highway 54 W., in Peachtree City, Dove said.
