Madison County 07/03/07
Man Arrested for Construction-Site Thefts

The Madison County Sheriff's Department has arrested a man accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of tools and supplies from construction sites. Last Wednesday Jeremy Walters of Premier Hardwood Flooring in Florence, arrived at work to find his trailer full of tools and supplies missing.

"It was bad. It was $20,000 worth of stuff stolen. How would that make anyone feel? It was terrible," said Walters.

Walters was not alone. Law enforcement in Rankin, Hinds, and Madison counties were receiving numerous reports of construction site thefts. Madison County Sheriff Toby Trowbridge said his investigators used the website Leads Online to track down the missing items. Pawn shop owners use the website to report what comes in and out of their shops.

"It will have the description and the shop it was taken in. We started seeing some items that looked like they might be ours. We contacted the pawn shop dealer down there and he has been very cooperative," said Sheriff Toby Trowbridge.

It was at an undisclosed pawn shop in Jackson on Monday where Madison County Sheriffs with the help of Jackson Police arrested 32 year old Eric Scott Grantham of Florence. Sheriff Trowbridge believes Grantham has been stealing from construction sites for months, taking tens of thousands of dollars worth of supplies.

"As a matter of fact there's so much he can't remember what he did with all of it. He says I know I got it, I did this, I did that. I just can't tell you what I did with it it's so much," said Sheriff Trowbridge.

Some of the stolen items were recovered, including Walter's trailer and most of his tools.

"I've dealt with this before and these guys were on top of it. Everyday they were calling us, we're really excited about their help," said Walters.

Grantham has been on probation in Madison County on prior charges. He is now being held at the Madison County Dentention Center charged with Grand Larceny. Sheriff Trowbridge believes Grantham worked alone. He has an initial appearance in Madison County Justice Court Thursday.