Police: Smash and grab suspect arrested

MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) - UPDATE: Officials with the Spanish Fort Police Department tell Fox Ten News that they have arrested Derrick Myles. Myles was wanted for a recent smash and grab that happened in Spanish Fort last week.Myles has been on the run since early Tuesday morning.

9/7/2010: Derrick Myles is wanted for a recent smash and grab in Spanish Fort. Tuesday though, FOX10 News learned that police are looking into the possibility of connecting Myles to his third smash and grab. This one happened about a month ago.

Mobile Police are looking into the possibility of putting a warrant of arrest out for Myles. They think he could be the man seen in surveillance video attempting to steal the ATM out of a Greer's Grocery store on Navco Road.

Police said the van the two men used in the attempt was stolen from Manor Baptist Church. They weren't able to actually get the ATM, but they did steal a few things before speeding off in the van. Oddly enough, they returned the van to the church the next morning.

If police are able to tie Myles to the Navco Road smash and grab, this would be his third charge of smashing and stealing from businesses in the area. That charge would be added to a long list Myles already has.

Myles was arrested in 2003 for shooting into an unoccupied vehicle. However, he was not convicted in that case.

He was then arrested just a month later and charged with the murder of Wesley Ellis. Myles pleaded guilty to manslaughter in that case and was sentenced to 15 years in jail. However, court records show Myles served five years, 10 months, and 14 days for that crime.

Once out of prison, Myles was arrested for a smash and grab that happened at Cottage Hill and Cody Road. That was in December 2009. That case went to a grand jury.

A spokesperson at the department of corrections explained that if a criminal is facing a sentence of 15-years or less, they qualify for the "Correctional Incentive Time Act."

That law is more commonly known as the "good time" law. In some cases, like Myles' manslaughter sentence, a criminal receives 70 days of jail credit for every 20 days they are in prison and on good behavior, meaning they don't cause any trouble.

According to the department of corrections in Montgomery, the reason this law was passed is because of over crowding in Alabama state prisons.

If you know where Myles is hiding, do the right thing and turn him in.