Christopher Dewayne Goode
Police have charged Christopher Dewayne Goode and Aaron Patrick Ward after they confessed to a string of burlaries, including the Pizza Hut on Brainerd Road.
Police said Goode, 23, of 3301 Pinewood Ave., and Ward, 23, of 1120A N. Hawthorne St., admitted to carrying out the break-ins between Feb. 22 and March 19.
Police said a majority of the burglaries occurred at businesses along Brainerd Road, Rossville Boulevard, and East 23rd Street. Seven of those burglaries were reported on Brainerd Road with one business targeted three separate times. In each case, the suspects forced entry into the closed establishment after regular business hours taking cash from registers. The investigation revealed the suspects forced entry into all businesses by breaking a window or the glass front door.
Video from the Pizza Hut showed a tall black male and a shorter black male with a beard walking from the rear of the building. The shorter man was wearing a shirt with an intricate pattern on the back and front.
The taller man is seen throwing a rock through the front window and reaching in. He went inside and obtained the cash drawer. Police said it had $18 in it.
The pair then ran off.
Police said they were told that a black male was seen shining lights in the windows of businesses in the 3600 block of Brainerd Road on March 8. Police located Ward, who was a black male with a beard wearing a shirt that appeared to be identical to the one worn in the Pizza Hut break-in.
Police said, comparing the two videos, it is evident it is the same suspect.
Police were also told of another individual shining lights in businesses on Brainerd Road. Police were given a photo of this person and identified him as Goode.
Goode was then interviewed and made the admissions.
Aaron Patrick Ward