Dalton Police Say Odie Dwain Ellis Is Suspect In Vehicle Burglary

  • Thursday, August 29, 2013

Dalton Police Detective Chris Tucker said Thursday he has identified the suspect in Wednesday's surveillance photo as 32-year-old Odie Dwain Ellis.  

He has obtained warrants for Ellis on charges of ID fraud, entering auto, credit card fraud, and credit card theft.  

His most recent known address was his mother's residence, but investigators do not believe he is living there now.  

Anyone with information about Ellis' whereabouts is asked to please contact Detective Tucker at 706-278-9085, extension 165.

Police said Ellis is the suspect involved with a vehicle burglary in the early morning hours of last Saturday. He was recorded on surveillance using a credit card stolen in the incident. The credit card was stolen during a vehicle break-in.

The incident happened at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Saturday when two travelers stopped at the IHOP restaurant on West Walnut Avenue. Because they were towing a trailer, they left their vehicle parked in the neighboring Wendy's parking lot. After they left the restaurant and got back on the interstate, the victims realized that a computer bag was missing. They did not see any signs of forced entry into their car and told investigators they remembered leaving it locked when they went to eat. In the bag were three Blackberry cell phones, a Samsung Galaxy tablet computer, a laptop computer, a wedding band, a .38 special Smith and Wesson handgun and approximately $3,000 in cash.

After returning to Dalton and reporting the incident to police, one of the victims checked her credit card online and found that it had been used to make a charge of more than $100 at the Shell service station at 2000 Chattanooga Road.

The suspect had been described as a white male with close-cropped hair who was not wearing a shirt.  He wore a necklace with a cross on it.

Shortly after the victims reported the theft, at approximately 3 a.m., a man leaving the Wal-Mart at 815 Shugart Road called police to report that he found the Blackberry cell phones and the tablet computer left in the bed of his pickup truck in the parking lot.  Police responded and determined that the phones and tablet were the items stolen in this case.  They were returned to the owners.


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