By Blake Deshazo | The Selma Times-Journal

An 18-year-old Selma man was arrested for burglary Tuesday for the second time in two months.

According to Lt. John Hatfield with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, Rayford Mitchell was arrested Tuesday morning in Valley Grande for allegedly breaking into multiple homes just a few miles apart.

Hatfield said an unmarked sheriff’s deputy was in the area when someone in the area reported a suspicious vehicle and person in the area.

“After getting consent to search we were able to locate stolen items from a previous burglary yesterday,” Hatfield said.

Mitchell was charged with three counts of third-degree burglary and is currently being held at the Dallas County Jail on a $45,000 bond.

According to Hatfield, the sheriff’s department expects to make more arrests related to the burglaries.

“We know at least one more arrest will be made, maybe two,” Hatfield said.

Some of the items stolen were televisions, iPads and other miscellaneous items. Hatfield said the items were found inside Rayford’s vehicle.

Mitchell was arrested on Aug. 10 for third-degree burglary.

Hatfield said getting tips from the community is a big help to making arrests and catching criminals in the act.

“Yesterday we were able to get vehicle descriptions. Today we actually had an eye witness that saw him going across the yard,” Hatfield said.

“People being observant definitely makes our job a lot easier.”

Hatfield said the department encourages citizens to keep an eye on each other’s property and to alert law enforcement if they see something suspicious.

“We would love them to observe what’s going on and then dial 9-1-1 and let us do our job,” Hatfield said. “We would never encourage someone to approach anybody.”