Second Suspect Arrested For Stealing, Burning Jeep

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — A second suspect has been arrested on charges of stealing a Jeep from a Gwinnett County convenience store, then setting it on fire.

Darreon Lamar Holmes, 18, of Buford, was arrested Tuesday by Snellville Police following an encounter at the Walmart on West Main Street in Snellville.

Officers recognized Holmes as being wanted for the April 6 crimes based on warrants filed for his arrest and placed him in custody. He was booked at the Gwinnett County Detention Center and, on Friday, was being held without bond.

Holmes is charged with three felonies: second-degree arson, possession of tools for the commission of a crime and party to a crime in reference to the theft of the Jeep.

Ricardo Cole, 20, of Lawrenceville, was arrested by fire investigators at his home last month and charged with one count each of second-degree arson, theft by taking/motor vehicle, possession of tools for the commission of a crime and driving without a license.

On April 6, authorities say, Cole and Holmes stole a 2005, gold Jeep Grand Cherokee at the Quick Trip located at 2185 Beaver Ruin Rd. The incident happened around 6:40 a.m., after the vehicle's owner left it running in a parking space while he went inside the store.

Video surveillance shows two men loitering outside the store, then driving off in the stolen Jeep.

At 8:43 a.m. that day, Gwinnett County Police responded to a suspicious persons call at Walnut Grove Way and Taylor Road in Suwanee. A witness reported seeing the suspects standing next to the Jeep with a flaming rag stuck in the gas tank.

Officers found the vehicle on fire in the roadway and quickly doused the flames with a portable fire extinguisher. The fire was out by the time firefighters arrived. Fire investigators were requested due to the suspicious nature of the blaze.

Photo courtesy Gwinnett County Fire & Emergency Services