The Pineville Police Department made an arrest on the evening of Dec. 13 during the City of Pineville Christmas parade. To ensure the safety of citizens and their property during the event, officers in plain clothes and a drone equipped with thermal imaging were deployed to monitor the area for suspicious activity.
A plain clothes officer observed two individuals tampering with a vehicle. When approached, the subjects fled on foot through nearby yards. A short time later officers observed a subject in a parking lot matching the description of one of the subjects who previously fled. Utilizing live drone footage with thermal imaging, officers tracked the movement of the subject. At one point, the subject could be seen crawling and tampering with a vehicle in the 600 block of Lakeview Street. The subject eventually walked toward Main Street where he was apprehended by uniformed officers.
The subject, identified as Kejuan Thomas (DOB: 9/29/2004), was questioned. During the course of the investigation, officers were able to obtain witnesses statements which implicated Mr. Thomas in another attempted vehicle burglary. Thomas had three active warrants for his arrest and was also charged with two counts of attempted simple burglary and one count of criminal mischief.
Thomas was booked at RPDC1 where he remains in custody and is awaiting a bond hearing for the felony charges.
The Pineville Police Department remains committed to ensuring the safety and security of the community. They encourage all citizens to report suspicious activity immediately.