SUPERIOR COURT
A defendant charged with 32 counts of entering autos in connection with a rampage of the crimes that took place in the River North Subdivision in 2022 entered a guilty plea in Jones County Superior Court last week.
Thalley Lewis entered the negotiated plea Feb. 15 and received five years each on 18 of the counts of entering an automobile. The first four counts are to run consecutively for a total sentence of 20 years with the first five years served in confinement. The remainder the sentence is to be served on probation.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Bradley accepted the plea.
Lewis was indicted for the offenses of 32 counts of entering an automobile, three counts of theft by taking felony and one count possession of firearm during commission of felony by a Jones County Grand Jury Oct. 11, 2022.
In a News story about Lewis’ arrest on the charges stated he was arrested for the offenses Sept. 7, 2022. Jones County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Lt. Kenny Gleaton said the first call about the crimes was received by JCSO at 3 a.m. Sept. 1, 2022. He said the call was from an individual on Whispering Pines Drive who had just heard someone driving his car out of his driveway.
Gleaton said officers responded to the call and JCSO and Deputy Matthew Dennis met three vehicles leaving the area and turned around to pursue. He said the chase entered Bibb County, and the cars separated.
The investigator said Dennis stuck with a Honda CRV. The chase ended at a dead-end street, and the occupants of the SUV fled on foot. Gleaton said there were about 30 reports of entering autos in River North that night. He said stolen items from those crimes were found in the Honda.
Gleaton said a short time later, one of the other cars Dennis was pursuing, a Toyota 4-Runner, was found wrecked, and the driver inside the vehicle had a leg injury. He said the driver, Lewis, was taken to the hospital.
The lieutenant said Lewis was arrested Sept. 7 after he was released from the hospital. Gleaton said a firearm was found inside the 4-Runner, but previous reports that the driver had been shot were not accurate.
Gleaton said three stolen cars were involved in the crimes. The 4-Runner and a 2020 Ford Explorer were stolen from the River North neighborhood, and the Honda CRV was reported stolen in Macon the previous day.
He said the Explorer was later recovered behind Baconsfield.
The investigator said many of the items stolen from the vehicles were recovered, including purses, wallets, three firearms and phones. He said several phones and guns were found in the Honda. He noted that none of the vehicles involved in the entering autos or thefts had been locked.
