Near the end of July there were several burglaries around the Alto area which included houses and buildings. Investigators believed that it was the same group of suspects due to the types of items stolen, the general area in which they were occurring, and the dates of the burglaries.
Items stolen during the burglaries included rifles, shotguns, hunting equipment and power tools. During the course of the investigation, Detectives Jonathan Hughes and Joey Ray with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office began receiving information pertaining to two possible suspects.
After several days of gathering information and eventually recovering some of the stolen items, arrest warrants were issued for Ryan Barclay Ranniger, 30, and Craig Anthony Wilkins, 22, both from Alto.
Wilkins was arrested on August 1 during a traffic stop, in which he was found to be in possession of a firearm. Wilkins has a prior felony conviction and is prohibited by law from possessing any firearms at this time.
Ranniger was arrested on August 8. At this time both suspects have been charged with two counts of burglary of a habitation, and one count of burglary of a building. Wilkins was charged with the additional offense for possession of a firearm by a felon. There may be additional charges filed against both suspects, but those cases are still under investigation. Some of the stolen firearms and tools have been recovered.