Arrests made in Wiregrass-wide burglary investigation

Houston County Sheriff Andy Hughes said a Kinsey man recently confessed to the burglary of four homes in four different Wiregrass counties.

Hughes and two other Wiregrass county sheriffs announced three arrests in an ongoing region-wide investigation into commercial and residential burglaries. Hughes said detectives recently arrested Dominique Quantrell Pledger, 20, of Nova Street, Kinsey, and Jared Ramon Bigham, 22, of South Range Street. Hughes said deputies have also charged a third man, Willie Louis Gosha, 23, of Dothan, who they are still looking for on a felony third-degree burglary charge.

Pledger was charged with felony possession of burglar’s tools and felony third-degree burglary. Bigham was charged with felony first-degree receiving stolen property. Both men were taken to the Houston County Jail and held on a $30,000 bond.

“He actually confessed to four burglaries,” Hughes said of Pledger.

Henry County Sheriff William Maddox said Henry County detectives have also charged Pledger with a single felony count of third-degree burglary of a home. Hughes said there is a hold on both men at the Houston County Jail until detectives from other area counties can interview them.

Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson also attended the press conference Wednesday at the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, and called the recent arrests the result of good communication between all the area law enforcement agencies.

“It definitely got us all working together, and that’s what it takes,” Maddox said.

Maddox said Henry County Sheriff’s investigators also arrested John Michael Klink, 41, of Lightfoot Drive, Abbeville, on Tuesday. Klink was charged with the burglary of the Food Giant grocery store located near downtown Abbeville late Saturday night.

According to a statement from the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and Abbeville Police Task Force, Klink escaped through the store’s air vents, which went to the roof, and jumped into a nearby tree before running into the woods. After deputies received a Crime Stoppers tip, officers arrested Klink while they served a search warrant at his residence. He was charged with felony third-degree burglary and felony failure to register as a convicted felon.

Klink was taken to the Houston County Jail and held on a $275,000 bond.

Anyone with information about the burglaries or the whereabouts of Gosha can call Houston County Crime Stoppers at 793-7000.