A former Hayesville resident has been arrested in connection to a Nov. 3 burglary of the Hiawassee Antique Mall where a “large amount of jewelry,” was taken according to a press release from Hiawassee Police Chief Paul Smith.
Smith reported that at 4 a.m., a masked burglar forced entry into the Hiawassee Antique Mall and stole the jewelry from several different vendors.
“Since then, the Hiawassee Police Department has been working diligently to identify the burglar and solve the case. Several leads were developed during the investigation, but a breakthrough came when Nathan Brice Garrett was discovered to have been in the store 12 hours prior to the burglary,” Smith said in the release.
Garrett has previously been convicted of burglary after an unsuccessful attempt in 2017 to burglarize the Hiawassee Antique Mall, Smith said. He was caught red-handed breaking through the wall of the building and then led police on a foot pursuit which ended after he swam out into Lake Chatuge in an attempt to avoid capture. Garrett was arrested, convicted of burglary and sentenced to five years of probation.
During the most recent investigation, Smith said it was discovered that Brice had sold jewelry to several pawn shops in the Auburn, Ala. area, where he resides. The jewelry was identified as that taken during the Nov. 3 burglary. The Hiawassee Police Department secured arrest warrants for the charges of Burglary 2nd Degree and Criminal Damage to Property 2nd Degree and the Auburn Police Department was put on notice.
On Thursday, Nov. 21, Smith said Garrett was arrested by the Auburn Police Department at Auburn Pawn Shop when he returned for the second time to sell more of the stolen jewelry.
“Garrett was the first person to come to mind due to his prior burglary attempt at that location,” said Smith. “However, it wasn’t until video of Garrett was discovered by the Antique Mall owners that we were able to place him at the scene of the crime. We thank them for the many hours they spent reviewing security camera footage. We also wish to thank the Auburn and Opelika Police Departments for their assistance in recovering stolen property and capturing Garrett.”
Garrett is in the custody of the Lee County Alabama Sheriff’s Office, awaiting extradition to Towns County.