Deputies: Two arrested after chase linked to Bibb County church burglary investigation

Sheriff’s office says the vehicle the suspects were in was linked to a January burglary at Highland Hills Baptist Church.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — A Macon man was one of two people taken into custody after a brief vehicle chase connected to a commercial burglary investigation, according to a news release from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were alerted around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday after a suspicious vehicle linked to a recent burglary was spotted on Gray Highway. Deputies say the vehicle, a U-Haul Ford Econoline with an Arizona license plate, was connected to a January 24 burglary at Highland Hills Baptist Church on Briarcliff Road.

According to the sheriff’s office, a deputy spotted the vehicle near the Hardeman Avenue exit from Interstate 75 South. The driver failed to stop, ran a red light at the intersection of Hardeman Avenue and Forsyth Street and then fled. After a brief chase, deputies said the driver and a passenger abandoned the vehicle and ran near Forsyth Street and Monroe Avenue before being taken into custody.

Deputies identified the suspects as 37-year-old Jeffrey Gadsden Henderson of Macon and 28-year-old Tawny Cheyenne Beall of Griffin.

According to the release, Henderson was out on bond and wanted in Bibb County for a Superior Court probation violation tied to first-degree burglary, identity fraud, forger and theft by deception. Beall was wanted in Monroe County for probation violation, according to the release.

Beall was turned over to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, and Henderson was taken to the Bibb County Jail.

According to the sheriff’s office, Henderson’s bond was surrendered and he was charged with fleeing and eluding a police officer, misdemeanor willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, felony theft by taking, second-degree criminal damage to property, probation violation and first-degree burglary.