Cigarette bandit nabbed on Coast

A Gulfport man with local ties has been charged by the Laurel Police Department in connection with a commercial burglary involving the theft of cigarettes.

Sammie Lee Fairley, 48, whose last known address was Dacetown Area in Ellisville, has been taken into custody in Gulfport in connection with the July 21st burglary of a local convenience store.

Investigator Kim Stewart with the LPD said the Rapid Shell Station located at 205 South 16th Avenue was burglarized and several cartons of cigarettes were taken.

According to police, at approximately 11:38 p.m. Thursday, July 21st, the LPD Patrol Division was dispatched to the Rapid Shell Station in reference to an alarm. Stewart said Sgt. Jim Thornhill arrived on the scene and discovered that the front glass door of the store had been broken and the store had been burglarized.

Last year, the City of Laurel along with several jurisdictions in the Pine Belt Region reported commercial burglaries involving the theft of large quantities of cigarettes.

Locally, the Spaceway then located at the intersection of 16th Avenue and Highway 84 West; Dandy Dan’s Dandy Dan’s, located at 615 North 16th Avenue; and George’s Discount Tobacco.

According to law enforcement officials in the surrounding area, during the month of July 2010 they received reports of at least eight commercial burglaries of convenience stores where tobacco products were taken.

Entry was gained by breaking the glass on the front door and Newport cigarettes and Black & Mild Cigars along with an undisclosed amount of money were taken from the stores by two individuals.

Approximately 30 of these types of burglaries were reported in the Pine Belt area, with the majority of the incidents being along the I-59 Corridor from as far north as Jasper County and as far south as Pearl River County.

Stewart said the recent July 21st incident was similar. When the police officer arrived on the scene, “he observed the front door shattered.”

According to police, someone threw a concrete rock through the glass door and the burglar gained entry to the closed business through the broken glass door.

Stewart said with the use of the store’s surveillance tapes, he began working to identify the latest suspect, described as a black male six-foot to six-foot-two-inch in height, weighing about 175-180 pounds wearing a white tank top and faded blue jeans with Timberland boots.

“The video shows that once he entered the store, he had his own plastic garbage bag,” Stewart said. “He took 10-15 cartons of Newports Cigarettes and some cartons of Salem and then exited the store.”

Stewart said a public tip through Jones County Crimestoppers led him to investigate Fairley as the suspect in the case.

“We are grateful for the assistance we received from other agencies and for the public’s help in getting this suspect off the street,” Stewart said. “He was just going from one place to another committing these crimes. They all had the same MO.”

As a result of the investigation, Stewart said, Fairley has been identified as the suspect in similar burglaries in Gulfport, Wiggins and possibly Collins.

“I entered his information on NCIC (National Crime Information Center) and his last known addresses were Ellisville and Gulfport. So, I then contacted Gulfport and asked them to check an address in Gulfport where he had lived before,” Stewart said. “Gulfport authorities went to the address in their jurisdiction and located him.”

Stewart said law enforcement agencies in Laurel, Gulfport and Wiggins currently have holds on Fairley for several charges of commercial burglary and Collins Police Department is considering him as a person of interest in a similar incident in Covington County.

The Collins’ incident occurred on July 19th; the Laurel incident occurred on July 21st; the Gulfport burglary on July 24th; and the Wiggins’ burglary occurred on July 25th.

Stewart said Monday that Gulfport currently has a $100,000 bond on Fairley and he is being held in the Harrison County Jail.

According to the investigator, once Harrison County has completed it’s process, Fairley will be transported to Laurel to face the local charge here.