Auburn police arrest Montgomery men for thefts

Police in Auburn, Ala., have arrested two Montgomery, Ala., men for thefts.

According to an official report, arrested on Tuesday were 39-year-old Joseph L. Smith and 44-year-old Alton L. Surles.

Both were charged with robbery first degree, burglary third degree and theft of property first degree.

The report says Auburn police were investigating two incidents.

One was the burglary of a business in the 3900 block of Cox Road on Dec. 15 where more than $3000 worth of merchandise was taken.

The other was a Dec. 18 robbery of a convenience store in the 1800 block of West Longleaf Drive.

In the second incident, officers responded to an alarm at the business and an employee reported that two men entered jumped over the counter and forced the employee to open the cash register. An undetermined amount of cash and merchandise was taken.

The two suspects and a vehicle were seen on surveillance footage from both robberies.

Around 12:20 a.m. Tuesday on Cox Road, an Auburn police officer saw a vehicle matching the description and conducted a traffic stop. Smith and Surles were detained and positively indentified from the surveillance footage.

The two are in the Lee County Jail. Each is being held on a $108,000 bond.

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Auburn police arrest Montgomery men for thefts."