COUNTY The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation into a string of reported incidents where homeowners discovered that their vehicles had been broken into during the nighttime hours while the victims were asleep.

As reported to various media outlets in April and May, the Sheriff’s Office attempted to alert other potential victims within Pickens County that thieves appeared to be looking for specific targets of opportunity.

Utilizing “Intelligence Led Policing” tools implemented by Sheriff Clark, Detectives were able to more quickly identify the similarity in the items that were being stolen along with the common denominator that almost all vehicles were left unlocked.

The investigation identified two Easley men as the individuals responsible for these incidents resulting in 16 cases of vehicles being broken into followed by numerous thefts. Stolen items consisted of seven handguns, a rifle, sunglasses, electronic items and pocketbooks.

A total of 58 criminal charges will be lodged against the two men who were partners in crime.

Joshua Luke Pinyon, 22, was arrested at a residence in Easley without any incident on June 26 He is currently detained within the Pickens County Detention Facility with a total bond set at $89,000.00. He is charged with 16 counts of Auto Breaking, 12 counts of Petit Larceny and one count of Grand Larceny.

The second suspect Brandon Scott Creel, 28, was arrested on July 2 at a residence in Anderson County without incident. He is currently detained in the Pickens County Detention Facility with a total bond set at $77,000.00 on 16 counts of Auto Breaking, 12 counts of Petit Larceny and one count of Grand Larceny.

“Our Detectives followed every lead and piece of information throughout this investigation to catch these thieves. Our progress in the use of new crime mapping tools and other intelligence software is starting to pay off. Technology does not always solve the case for us but it certainly helps us to visualize patterns of crime by highlighting similarities and patterns at a much faster pace than previous methods done by hand,” Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clarks said.