Alabaster, Pelham police arrest burglary suspect

Published 2:35 pm Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Alabaster Police arrested a Birmingham man Feb. 6 in connection with a recent string of burglaries across Jefferson and Shelby counties.

Police arrested Matthew Angelo Jones and charged him with third-degree burglary shortly after Alabaster officers responded to a burglary alarm at Firehouse Subs in the Colonial Promenade Shopping Center.

“Officers responded to Firehouse Subs at 3:18 a.m. and found the glass on the front door busted and the cash register on the floor,” said Alabaster Police Department Deputy Chief Curtis Rigney.

Shortly after the burglary was reported, a Pelham Police officer stopped Jones’ Pontiac Grand Am after the driver was acting “suspicious,” Rigney said.

“He didn’t even know that was the guy we were looking for,” Rigney said of the Pelham officer. “We sent out the call on the radio while he had him stopped.

“The Pelham officer saw a black ski mask and other things like that in the suspect’s passenger seat,” Rigney added. “The evidence at the scene and in the vehicle was enough to tie him to the crime.”

Jones was arrested in Dec. 2009 and charged with a previous burglary of the Wing King restaurant in Alabaster, but had bonded out before the Firehouse Subs robbery.

“He is considered a suspect in multiple cases in Jefferson and Shelby counties,” Rigney said.

As of Feb. 9, Jones remained in the Shelby County Jail on a $10,000 bond.