Canton Teen Charged with Entering Autos

A Canton teenager has been arrested and charged with entering autos in a community in Woodstock.

Deputies with the Cherokee Sheriff's Office on Tuesday arrested Eric Mitcham, 18, of Canton and a 16-year-old juvenile and charged them both with three counts of entering auto after a string of thefts hit the Towne Lake Hills East subdivision Tuesday morning. 

Deputies were dispatched to the neighborhood along Towne Lake Parkway near Woodstock after receiving reports from residents whose cars were allegedly hit with the thefts. 

Deputies were dispatched to the neighborhood along Towne Lake Parkway near Woodstock after receiving reports from residents whose cars were allegedly hit with the thefts. 

Lt. Jay Baker, spokesman with the sheriff's office, said while deputies observed a "suspicious vehicle" leaving the neighborhood while they were interviewing victims. 

Deputies then pulled over the vehicle and discovered the two men inside the car were the suspects.  

Mitcham is in custody at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center with a $17,100 bond. The 16-year-old suspect was transported to the Marietta Youth Detention Center.  

Lt. Baker added Cherokee investigators are combing the woods around the subdivision where they believe the suspects allegedly hid the stolen property. 

The sheriff's office also "would like to remind residents to always lock their car doors and to not leave valuables inside their vehicles," Baker. 

Mitcham's arrest comes on the heels of deputies earlier this year cracking several cases of entering auto thefts that hit Towne Lake Hills West, Towne Lake Hills East and the Arbor View subdivisions over the summer.