Randall Mauck, right, owner of John’s Grocery on U.S. 80 at Mount Alban Road, watches as Price’s Glass and Mirror employees Tommy London, left, and Alvin Holman replace the store’s front door. (Meredith Spencer The Vicksburg Post)

[10/26/04]A spree of “crash and grab” breakins in three counties screeched to a halt Monday after the owner of a Warren County mom-and-pop store found a man in his store.

The intruder was driving a white van that had been driven into the front glass doors of John’s Grocery at U.S. 80 and Mount Alban Road. He sped away from the store, but an arrest was made later in Clinton.

Stanley Washington, 40, of Raymond, was identified as the suspect. It wasn’t his van he’s accused of using as a “burglary tool.” The van had been reported stolen on Mississippi 18.

Events began when Randall Mauck, who own’s John’s Grocery with his father, John Mauck, received an early-morning call that a van was in the store’s parking lot.

Before the man could get away with the cigarettes and tobacco he’d gathered into a bag, Randall Mauck drove up in his vehicle.

“The guy was inside the store, and he saw me drive up,” Mauck said. “He dashed out, and I tried to block him in, but he rammed into my Jeep.”

Mauck called authorities at 3:50 a.m., and Washington was arrested in Clinton after a car chase that led authorities from Interstate 20 to Springridge Road to Mississippi 18, where the van was wrecked.

“This ain’t his first rodeo,” said Clinton Police Detective Lt. Andrew Pitts.

In addition to the burglary at John’s, Washington was being held by Clinton police for two burglaries in Madison County, two in Hinds County and two in the city of Clinton, Pitts said.

Pitts said Washington is also wanted for probation violation for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Locally, Warren County Undersheriff Jeff Riggs said a preliminary investigation showed Washington could be charged with burglary.

As for John’s Grocery, glass doors were being replaced Monday afternoon.

“He bent up my Jeep a little and cost me some money, but I can live with that. He was a wild one. I don’t want to go through that again.”

Mauck said his family has owned the business for 33 years, but the store has been at the intersection for at least 70 years. He said he has about one burglary each year.

“He’s the boldest one we’ve ever had.”