By Malynda Fulton
VALDOSTA — Authorities have two men in custody and are seeking a third in connection to a Wednesday night home invasion-kidnapping and early Thursday morning robbery at a local hotel.
Detectives with the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office were questioning two black males and possible witnesses about the incidents at press time Thursday. Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine said that the two males, whose names have not been released, were taken into custody at Ora Lee West Homes Thursday morning and are being held as suspects.
Another black male suspect eluded authorities by jumping from a second-story window in the housing project and running. At press time, he was still at large.
Prine said that so far, no charges have been filed. However, evidence recovered from the residence at Ora Lee West has linked the suspects to the home invasion-kidnapping and an armed robbery at the New Valdosta Inn.
The home invasion-kidnapping occurred between 7 and 8 p.m. Wednesday at a home off of Madison Highway. A female resident of the home was further down the street when she noticed three black males knocking on her door, Prine said.
The resident walked to her house and asked them what they wanted. The men said that they were from Kentucky and asked to use her telephone. After letting the men into her home, a shirt was thrown over the resident’s head.
“The men then took items from the home and loaded them and the victim in a car,” Prine said. “They dropped her off on a dirt road on Williams School Road Lane, led her to a ditch, told her to get in the ditch and drove off.”
The victim was dropped off less than two miles from her home. She was not injured, Prine said.
The investigation into this incident is being handled by the detective bureau at the sheriff’s office under the command of Capt. Wanda Edwards.
The robbery at New Valdosta Inn occurred around 4 a.m. Thursday when two black males demanded money from the clerk while holding a gun, according to a press release from the Valdosta Police Department. After taking an undisclosed amount of money, the offenders fled the scene on foot.
The robbery is being investigated by the Valdosta Police Department Bureau of Investigation.
Prine said the sheriff’s office has contacted the VPD about the connection between the home invasion-kidnapping and the robbery. The two agencies are working together in the investigation.
Prine added that Lowndes County Sheriff’s Sgt. Rob Picciotti, also of the FBI Southwest Georgia Gang Task Force, was instrumental in leading the investigation to Ora Lee West.
Anyone with information about either incident, or the whereabouts of the third suspect, is encouraged to contact the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office at (229) 671-2900 or VPD Bureau of Investigation at (229) 293-3145.
