“I did it for the thrill.”

That was the response this week of a local resident cuffed for multiple burglaries.

Fairburn Police have arrested a man in connection with the February break-ins of a store-front Mexican restaurant on Ga. Highway 74 north of I-85. Fairburn resident Nick Smith, Jr., 21, was charged with two counts of burglary, according to Det. Dave Bedford.

The first break-in occurred Feb. 7 when the store’s front window was broken out. Bedford said Smith entered through the glass store front, crawling through large shards of glass that remained after the pane was shattered.

The cash register was removed from the store and recovered in a nearby wooded area, having been smashed and forced open with a small amount of cash removed, Bedford said. He said Smith attempted, but failed, to open the juke box.

Evidence of the cuts sustained by Smith were apparent, Bedford said, noting that the recovered cash register was covered in blood. Blood-soaked rags were also found inside the store, he said.

Smith entered the same business on Feb. 17, though access to the store was made through a different window outfitted with safety glass which shattered into small pieces on impact, Bedford said. Several cases of beer and 40-50 CDs from the juke box were taken in the burglary, Bedford said.

Bedford said the word on the street led officers to the apartment where Smith had recently lived. At the residence officers recovered the CDs. Acting on a tip, officers located Smith at an abandoned house in Fairburn, Bedford said. Smith later confessed to the burglaries.