Wilkes county sheriff deputies have arrested a man believed to have broken into several cars and a garage early this morning. 33-year old Jerry Tarlton of Lenoir was arrested after a business owner caught him breaking into several cars at 109 Crews Road about 3:30 this morning. Four unlocked vehicles had been entered, and deputies recovered all of the property that had been taken from them, including two CD players, various tools and a video camera, together worth about 900-dollars. Tarlton told the deputy he had just stopped to go to the bathroom, and had only gotten in a couple of cars. Interestingly, the back of his pickup was loaded down with a number of weed eaters and chainsaws. He claimed they belonged to his boss.
The truth came out a few minutes later. As one deputy arrived at the jail with Tarlton, another was taking a report of a break in at a garage in Moravian Falls, not far from where Tarlton had been picked up. A weed eater, a leaf blower, a TV/DVD player and other items worth a total 15-hundred dollars had been taken. The stolen items are believed to be among the mess Tarlton had in the back of the pickup. There have been several thefts of yard tools around the county recently; given the number of such items found in the pickup, this arrest may solve several cases. The pickup has been impounded so a full inventory of the items can be done.