Richland deputies arrest 3 men in connection with string of burglaries

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott announced Tuesday the arrests of three men who are accused of going on a crime spree in the past year.

Cedric Reddick, 23, is facing five counts of second-degree burglary, three counts of grand larceny and one count of petit larceny.

Lott said Reddick is connected to a string of break-ins at liquor stores that spanned multiple counties. In Richland County alone, 26 liquor stores have been broken into since December. Investigators accused Reddick of being involved in at least seven burglaries.

Lott said investigators tied the burglaries together, because the method of break-in was the same; burglars always wore masks and gloves, and did everything they could to not leave forensic evidence at the crime scenes.

“Fortunately for us, and unfortunately for the bad guy, he did some leave DNA at one of the crime scenes,” said Lott, adding that it was Reddick’s DNA that was found.

Lott said Reddick had an accomplice who has not been arrested, but the investigation is ongoing and additional arrests are expected.

In a separate case, George Adams, 22, and Jimmy Osborne, 20, are accused of a series of home burglaries in the St. Andrews, Irmo and Chapin area. They were connected to at least three burglaries.

Adams is facing three counts of first-degree burglary, two counts of petit larceny and one count of grand larceny. Osborne is facing three counts of second-degree burglary, two counts of petit larceny and one count of grand larceny.

Lott attributed the capture of the duo to the participation of the community in a Facebook group called Irmo/Chapin/Ballentine SC Crime Watch, which gained more than 5,000 members since it was created a week ago.

“This is what makes our job easier when the community gets involved like this,” Lott said. “This is how we can be successful in arresting people who are out here plaguing our community. We’re doing a good job working with the community and the community is doing a good job working with us.”

He stressed that a small number of people are the who are committing the majority of the area’s crimes and pointed to the three men arrested as “great examples” of that.

Lott said a string of incidents like the ones the three men committed can drive up the area’s crime statistics. On Monday, the FBI released the final report for 2015’s crime rates.

Statistically, burglaries are up in the Midlands, but they are down nationwide. Raw numbers show the increases are of just about a couple hundred.

This story was originally published September 27, 2016 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Richland deputies arrest 3 men in connection with string of burglaries."