LAUREL HILL — An Alabama man who hid in a Laurel Hill home Thursday faces a number of felony charges. Burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and larceny theft of goods valued at more than $300 but less than $5,000 are among them, an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said.
Last week, the agency was searching for Michael “Red” Thames, 38, of Lockhart, Ala., for outstanding burglary and theft warrants. A tipster at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday said he might be in the north county area near Laurel Hill.
Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office units, including the agency's Special Response Team, established a perimeter around a Ludlum Road home near the Alabama state line Thursday afternoon. They responded to reports of a suspect wanted on burglary charges, Undersheriff Don Adams said.
Sheriff’s investigators, Fugitive Warrants officers and the Special Response Team established telephone contact with Thames in the residence and persuaded him to surrender without incident around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, according to a statement released by the sheriff’s office.
After a three-hour standoff at the home of Thames’ girlfriend, Thames was taken into custody and booked into Okaloosa County Jail.
Thames’ was wanted in connection with Nov. 1 and Nov. 10 burglaries of a New Ebenezer Road residence in Laurel Hill, according to arrest records. In those incidents, equipment reportedly was stolen from the resident’s workshop while the victim was at work.
The victim reportedly set up a motion-activated camera and photographed Thames and his red Chevrolet pick-up truck when the suspect returned Nov. 13.
Thames’ arrest report stated he had committed several similar thefts in 2010. Thames “had been selling and trading stolen property for crack in the Laurel Hill area,” the report stated.
Thames also had stolen property belonging to a neighbor of Thames’ girlfriend, the report stated.
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Sheriff's deputies arrest Laurel Hill burglary suspect: UPDATE