An alert Indiana State Police trooper spotted a vehicle on Interstate 65 with three suspects involved in the theft of items from a Seymour store.
As a result of Trooper Bryce Harris’ traffic stop at the 80-mile-marker north of Edinburgh, Measha Dashanik Wilburn, 21, Melvin Thomas Sanders Jr., 20, and Anthony Tyrone Jordan Jr., 23, all of Indianapolis, were taken into custody Thursday night by officers with the Seymour Police Department.
All three face Level 6 felony charges of theft and were booked into the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown without bond.
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Wilburn also had two warrants for her arrest, said Seymour Cpl. Adam Surface, who was the first to respond to the incident at Hibbett Sports, 1252 E. Tipton St., Seymour.
“All three of them have a lengthy criminal history,” Surface said.
The initial report of the incident came in at 5:12 p.m. as a robbery at the sporting goods store in the Jackson Park shopping center on Seymour’s east side.
While en route to the store, Surface said he learned two men and a woman entered the store, wound up taking armfuls of clothing and fled in a vehicle.
During the investigation, Surface said he was told the three people had been in the store for a little while when an employee asked if they needed help.
A few minutes later, they split up in the store and each grabbed items off of the racks, left the store and fled in a black Ford car with tinted windows and a temporary license plate tag on the back, Surface said.
The vehicle headed eastbound on Tipton Street, and Seymour police dispatch shared the vehicle and suspects’ descriptions, which reached the Indiana State Police and Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.
Less than an hour later, Surface said Harris located a vehicle matching the description northbound at the 80-mile-marker on Interstate 65.
Once the vehicle was stopped, Harris walked up to it and immediately detected the odor of marijuana inside, Surface said.
During a probable cause search of the vehicle, Harris located the stolen merchandise from Hibbett Sports, Surface said. The items filled four trash bags and are estimated to be valued around $2,000, he said.
Harris contacted the Seymour Police Department, and Cpl. Jacob Florine and Capt. Carl Lamb drove to the 80-mile-marker and picked up all three of the suspects and the stolen property, which included pants, T-shirts and shorts, Surface said.
It was a joint effort between the Seymour Police Department and Indiana State Police, as Seymour Cpl. Brian Moore assisted Surface with the investigation at the store.
Surface said he’s glad Harris heard the radio traffic from Seymour dispatch because otherwise, the merchandise may not have been recovered and the three people involved wouldn’t have been taken into custody.
“Very good proactive police work,” Surface said.
Jordan, Sanders and Wilburn were booked into the jail in Brownstown between 8:24 and 9:31 p.m. Thursday.