Two men have been taken into custody after being accused of burglarizing storage units in two Mississippi counties.

Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins, Monroe County Sheriff Kevin Crook and Aberdeen Police Chief Quinell Shumpert announce the arrest of two suspects responsible for several burglaries of storage units in both counties.

Since January the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office has been investigating several burglaries of storage units in Lowndes County. The storage units had no visible signs of forced entry and it appeared that the locks on the units were undamaged or picked.

Security video obtained from the first series of burglaries shows the suspects using a green Ford F-150, King Ranch pick-up truck during the burglaries.

Detectives took still shots from the video of the truck and put out a BOLO to all patrol deputies. After seeing a photo of the vehicle from the surveillance footage, a patrol deputy recognized the vehicle as one he made a traffic stop on and issued a citation. The citation was written to Christopher Shay Dahl, 35, of Monroe County.

Lowndes County Detectives contacted Monroe County Sheriff’s Office investigators and relayed information about the suspect. They, too, were investigating several burglaries of storage units in Monroe County, where a green Ford F-150 was captured on security video. The Aberdeen Police Department also investigated similar burglaries inside the city limits of Aberdeen.

Investigators from Monroe County went to a residence in Hamilton in an attempt to locate Joshua Ryan Welch, 39. Investigators located Welch, and while on the scene, they were informed by the property owner that Welch and Chris Dahl were bringing a lot of property to the residence and leaving it in his shop.

The property owner took the investigators to his shop and showed them the property. Several items were identified by investigators both in Lowndes and Monroe counties via text pictures as property stolen from the storage units. Chris Dahl and Josh Welch were later taken into custody by Monroe County Deputies and the property in the shop was seized. Dahl and Welch were booked into the Monroe County Jail, awaiting their initial appearance.

On Monday, February 12, 2024, Dahl and Welch were interviewed regarding the storage unit burglaries. During the interview, Dahl admitted to the burglaries and further confirmed where the units were burglarized and the items were taken. Dahl advised they could enter the units using a large ring of master lock keys. Charges will also be filed in Aberdeen and Lowndes County on both suspects for several counts of burglary.

These burglaries are still under investigation, and several property items were recovered. Owners of some of that property have not been identified, according to the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.

If you have property missing from a storage unit, call the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, Aberdeen Police Department, or the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.