An Atlanta man arrested Feb. 4 on multiple charges after soliciting sex from an undercover Atlanta officer is a suspect two Jan. 31 business burglaries in Palmetto.

Aron Jermaine Major, 32, is a suspect in the early morning burglaries at D.J.’s Grocery on Main Street and the nearby 29 Mini Mart located in the Coweta County area of Palmetto, according to Palmetto Police Det. John Cooper.

At approximately 2 a.m., Officer Ronald Stripling discovered that the Plexiglas on the front door of the grocery store had been dislodged. Officer Richard Cheek responded to a call for back-up at the location. Officers made contact with Coweta Sheriff’s deputies who were at the 29 Mini Mart responding to another burglary. Cooper had been monitoring the officers’ transmissions and contacted the store owner.

From outside the store Palmetto officers and Coweta deputies observed tools lying on the floor next to the safe, Cooper said. The store was secured and a subsequent search of the premises determined that no one was inside. The search revealed that a large screwdriver had been used in an unsuccessful attempt to pry open the safe and that 38 cartons of cigarettes had been stolen without tripping the store’s alarm, said Cooper. The burglar had accomplished the theft by apparently removing the sealer securing the Plexiglas to dislodge the panel sufficiently to enter through the front door. The store’s video showed a man crawling or sliding on his stomach to commit the crime without setting off the store’s alarm system, Cooper said. The perpetrator had used two crates to move the cigarettes to the front door, sliding them as he went, Cooper added. A check of the 29 Mini Mart revealed that a small amount of cash was taken, along with the store’s VCR and tapes. The Plexiglas on the front door had also been dislodged.

Though the investigation is ongoing, Cooper said Major was a suspect in the Palmetto burglaries and in numerous burglaries in the Atlanta and North Georgia areas. Major was arrested on numerous charges Feb. 4 at 9 a.m. after soliciting sex from an undercover Atlanta police officer. When arrested he had $27,000 in cash in his possession, said Cooper. Hours earlier the same morning a convenience store in Dalton had been burglarized, with $43,000 stolen from the Western Union office inside the store, Cooper said. The method of entry, he said, was similar to the burglaries in Palmetto.

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