Two men are facing burglary and other charges after authorities found a cellphone left at a crime scene where a painting with a Bible verse was stolen.
Winston Joseph Nobles, 31, of Alabama, and Carlos Joel Easterwood, 40, of Florida, were arrested Thursday following a police chase near a Coweta County motel.
Investigators found the men through contacts in a cellphone left Sept. 12 at a house on Witcher Road, Coweta County sheriff’s Lt. Col. Jimmy Yarbrough confirmed.
That house belonged to a woman who had died and family members called police when they saw lights on and an open back door, Yarbrough said.
Among other stolen items was a religious painting that quoted the Bible verse John 8:12, “Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”
The Witcher Road burglary was the latest in a string of thefts in the area and at least one burglary in Alabama. Yarbrough confirmed investigators had been looking into the case since Labor Day weekend, when a Nissan Armada was stolen from a garage in Montgomery, Ala.
Authorities spotted the stolen Nissan last week at a motel near I-85 in Newnan, Yarbrough said. Deputies performed a controlled crash known as a PIT maneuver when the men refused to stop.
Nobles and Easterwood were arrested and, when deputies searched the alleged stolen car, the religious painting remained intact.
Both men were charged with burglary and theft by receiving after additional items from at least five recent burglaries were found in their motel room, Yarbrough confirmed.
Nobles also faces charges of aggressive driving, aggravated assault with a weapon, drug possession and fleeing from police. Easterwood also faces drug possession charges.
They remain in the Coweta County jail without bond.
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