WARSAW — Four out of five individuals, who stole approximately $1,600 worth of alcohol on Jan. 6, 2015 were arrested the morning after the theft. The final suspect was arrested for theft on Sept. 13.

Ernest Jerome Nelson

Ernest Jerome Nelson, 25, 1520 Tulip Tree Drive, Fort Wayne, was booked for theft, a level 6 felony.

Warsaw Police responded to a theft in progress at a local store on Jan. 6, 2015 where four to five black males and females loaded hundreds of dollars of liquor into trash bags and left in a vehicle at a high rate of speed. A Warsaw Police Officer located the vehicle and began to follow it. The officer then observed the vehicle abandoned at Clark and Roosevelt streets with four individuals running away.

Officers located Carrington Jamall Hogue, Timothy Wilson Jr. and Lashanea Schimman out of breathe as if they had been running. Schimman reported the vehicle belonged to Nikita Beard. Further investigation found an active arrest warrant out of Allen County on Hogue, resulting in his immediate arrest.

While police were transporting Schimman to the county jail, she received a phone call from Beard. She answered the phone on speaker. Police could hear Schimman admitting to Beard, they had been at the store and been driving 80 miles per hour. Beard reported she had received a text message from Nelson telling her to report the vehicle stolen.

Beard further stated she had a text message from Nelson to report her car stolen and he, Nelson, was hiding. The officer took a photograph of the text message. Beard told police the individuals had been at her residence earlier that night and must have taken the keys to her vehicle.

Later that evening, police located a female hiding behind a bush, identified as Shavondra Davis, who was seen in the surveillance video as one of the individuals involved in the theft.

After meeting with store officials, police learned three males and a female entered the store with trash bags and loaded the bags with liquor. They then ran out of the store without paying. Store employees responded and the individuals left the bags full of liquor in the parking lot. The bags contained $1,647.05 of liquor.

Through viewing of the surveillance camera, police were able to identify Hogue, Wilson, Davis and Nelson. Nelson was known by store employees. The others involved were identified by comparing the surveillance video to the individuals. Police could also see the vehicle with its lights on in the parking lot and the individuals running to the vehicle.

Nelson was arrested on Sept. 13 for the theft and is being held in the Kosciusko County Jail with a $5,250 surety and cash bond.