Athens police ID westside commercial burglary suspects
- Classic City News
- 12 hours ago
- 1 min read
By Joe Johnson
Athens police have identified a pair of suspects in the burglary last month of a convenience store on Hawthorne Avenue,
After breaking into Variety Mart early on the morning of November 5th the thieves made off with two safes, a cash register and thousands of dollars in merchandise.
A couple of days later a police officer received “credible information” concerning the identities of the burglars and the car they had used for the heist,
The officer was patrolling Atlanta Highway early in the morning of November 8th when he saw the suspects and the car pulling out of a parking lot.
The car sped away from an attempted traffic stop and the suspects were arrested after a high-speed pursuit.
The driver was identified as Chanthavong Tito Senymanola, 28, of Gainesville, and the passenger was 26-year-old Jesus Manuel Cruz of Amethyst Drive in Athens.
Senymanola was charged with felony fleeing from police, obstruction, and possession of psilocybin mushrooms.
He is being detained at the county jail, where sheriff offices in Hall and Forsyth counties have placed holds on his release because of probation violations.
Cruz was charged with obstruction and released on a $3,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on January 20th.
Neither suspect was charged for the Variety Mart burglary, which continues to be investigated.
