Flagler Beach, FL – A Jacksonville man is in jail after authorities tie him to 6 burglaries in Florida and Georgia, including the one at a Flagler Beach coffee shop earlier this summer.
52-year-old Joseph Coleman Hodge is held on $20,000 bond in Ware County, Georgia for stealing over $1,000 in cash and items – including a cash register – from the Java Joint on State Road A1A around 11:50pm on June 20th.
Flagler County Judge Melissa Moore-Stens signed an arrest warrant for Hodge on Wednesday charging him with burglary and grand theft in relation to the Saturday night break-in at the store on 2201 North Ocean Shore Boulevard, according to Flagler Beach Police Department Captain Matt Doughney.
“Our case is solved and the person responsible for the crime gets to answer for it,” Doughney added. “The cooperation of everyone involved in this case was exemplary and it truly was a team effort.”
FBPD bulletins in this case were sent to law enforcement agencies across the state and in Georgia. That proved vital to solving the case, according to Doughney.
“Captain Jones from Charlton County [Sheriff’s Office] contacted our agency and advised that he’d seen our bulletin and believed that our suspect was in custody in Ware County,” Doughney noted. “The investigation progressed after hearing from Captain Jones.”
Hodge is also a suspect or a person of interest in burglaries in Jacksonville Beach, Gainesville and Nassau County as well as the Georgia counties of Camden and Charlton, according to Doughney.
“This case is a great example of law enforcement officers working diligently, networking and extending our efforts across multi-jurisdictional borders in order to solve a case,” Doughney stated.
Officers think Hodge broke into the front door of the Java Joint with a pry bar and walked out with the cash register in his hands as well as cash from a hidden lock box and from a doggie donation box near the front door.
It isn’t clear at this point when Hodge will be extradited to Flagler.
Joseph Coleman Hodge (mugshot courtesy FBPD)
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.