Three Suspects Arrested Tied to Storage Unit Break-ins

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

As reported by the Dade County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 1, Tammy Walters (49 of Rainsville, AL), Kristie Cobb (25 of Rainsville, AL), and Jake Carter (25 of Rainsville, AL) were arrested for ties to a string of storage unit break-ins and burglaries.

The Dade County Sheriff’s Office and Trenton Police Department worked with numerous other investigators and police departments to identify the individuals and make the arrest.

Mark Cagle, owner of Piney Mini Storage, reported that only a couple of the break-ins at his facility resulted in stolen possessions. “Smokey’s Storage [now Bolt Storage] got broken into and other storage buildings were being broken into, but often nothing was taken. We have cameras monitoring the units.”

Brenda White Rogers, who now lives in Chickamauga, GA, has rented a storage unit at Piney Mini Storage for many years. She stated, “Our unit was broken into, and the owner told us that quite a few had been broken into. The burglars didn’t take anything to our knowledge.”

Rogers noted that at the time, they were using the unit to store many of her mother’s possessions. “We had one of the larger units, and they cut the locks, but so far, we haven’t found that anything was taken.”

The Dade County Sheriff’s Office and Trenton Police Department started receiving reports of these burglaries in September. The office explained that footage of a truck used in one of the burglaries allowed them to connect a stolen trailer with the same truck via a social media post by the Summerville Police Department.

After reaching out to surrounding counties, local law enforcement was contacted by the Rainsville Police Department with information about the owner of the truck. This truck had also been stopped by Fort Oglethorpe police, and that department was able to identify the three individuals in the vehicle.

Numerous departments worked together to obtain warrants, correlate information, and make the arrests. The departments were Dade County Sheriff’s Office, Trenton PD, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force, Summerville PD, Trion PD, Rainsville PD, Fort Payne PD, and Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.

After the arrests, a stolen trailer and a stolen four wheeler were located at a Tennessee residence tied to the three suspects.

The office reported that while the investigation is ongoing, the suspects have already been linked to thefts in Dade County, Trenton, Summerville, Ringgold, and Chickamauga, Georgia, and Fort Payne, DeKalb County, Rainsville, and Albertville, Alabama.

Sheriff Ray Cross said, “I want to thank all the agencies that were involved in taking down this multi-state theft ring. Without the teamwork that went into this investigation, their arrests wouldn’t have been possible.”