CARROLLTON — Two suspects have been arrested in connection with back-to-back home invasions of elderly residents near Carrollton.
Charles E. Chandler, 28, of Greenwood and Robert Earl Covington, 37, of North Carrollton were captured in Greenwood Friday after an all-out search by area law enforcement agencies, Carroll County Sheriff Clint Walker said.
The two will face charges of kidnapping and burglary of an occupied dwelling in both cases, Walker said. They were being held Saturday at the Carroll-Montgomery County Regional Correctional Facility in Vaiden.
The two were arrested about 4½ hours following Friday’s assault and robbery of Hubert and Vallie Strachan at their home on County Road 122. Two males broke into the house, tied up Hubert Strachan with duct tape and threw a coat over the head of Vallie Strachan, Walker said.
After assaulting both Strachans, who are 80 and 81 years old, the suspects took guns from the residence and fled, Walker said. The Strachans’ son, former Carroll County Coroner Ken Strachan, said the suspects cut the phone line, but his parents had another phone and were able to call for help.
“It was like a bad dream. They drug him from the bed into the living room and put a jacket over Mama and beat them both,” Ken Strachan said. “They took Daddy’s billfold and some hunting guns.”
The morning before, Green Thomas, 95, was tied up and assaulted in his home on County Road 272 and numerous items and cash were taken by two male suspects, according to authorities. Thomas was able to get loose and drive himself to the sheriff’s office after the incident.
Walker said a 14-year-old neighbor of the Strachans called the Sheriff’s Department at 10:26 a.m. Friday, within minutes of the home invasion, saying there were two males in her back yard.
“The sheriff’s office responded immediately to the Boone residence on County Road 122, got the 14-year-old out of the house, and returned to the Strachans to check on their condition,” Walker said.
Walker said Carroll County deputies pursued the suspects into the woods, and he requested assistance from several law enforcement agencies to set up a perimeter of the wooded area.
“After a search with the K9 units of Montgomery and Leflore County Sheriff’s Departments, we determined they had been picked up by a vehicle,” he said.
“Thanks to an eye-witness account of the suspects and an unusual vehicle in the area, the investigation eventually led to a residence on Cotton Street in Greenwood. The suspect’s vehicle was spotted leaving a residence, and an investigative stop was made by the Leflore County Sheriff’s Department,” Walker said.
“During a consensual search of the Cotton Street residence, Carroll and Leflore deputies located the third fugitive in that residence. The suspects were taken into custody at 3 p.m. and were taken to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office for questioning,” he said.
Covington and Chandler were eventually booked. The third suspect was questioned and released. Walker said, though, that other arrests are pending.
He said it was a relief to have the two suspects in custody and he is appreciative of all the help the department received from area law enforcement agencies and local citizens.
“I want to thank the Lord for answering our prayer that the fugitives would be arrested before someone was even more seriously harmed. I also want to thank all of the citizens for what they did to help.
“Our citizens’ safety is of paramount importance, and violent crime of this nature will not be tolerated in Carroll County,” he said.
Walker said his department also received assistance from three state agencies — the Department of Corrections, the Highway Patrol and the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
