MARK AARON GUILFORD
An investigation into the theft of a camera, a computer and a gun led to the arrest of a Blountstown man Monday when it was found that he had sent a photo of one of the stolen items from his phone to several people in an effort to sell it.
Mark Aaron Guilford, 34, was charged with grand theft, armed burglary and grand theft of a firearm Monday.
While looking into a complaint about a missing Canon EOS camera, an Apple laptop computer and a Delton AR-15 rifle, Capt. Adam Terry of the Blountstown Police Department found that Guilford was in a local restaurant on Oct. 26 with a friend who asked a waitress if she had seen an acquaintance of theirs.
The two men then left and drove around a bit, going through the driveway of the victim’s home but not stopping when they realized he was not home. Guilford then dropped off his friend and drove off.
When questioned later, Guilford denied ever going by the victim’s home that day, but his friend said they did.
Lt. Jared Nichols of the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office later spoke with a relative of Guilford’s who asked if he was looking for a camera. The relative stated that Guilford was trying to sell one, and had sent a photo of the camera to a female friend as well as his mother. It was later learned he had sent a group text to a number of people. Some of those he had contacted told investigators Guilford had offered to sell them a camera, a laptop and a rifle.
Nichols spoke with the friend who had received the photo on her phone a short time later. While they were discussing the camera, the woman got a frantic text from Guilford stating, “If I sent you a pix of a camera delete it now…somebody is trying to frame me for a burglary.”
As Nichols was leaving the woman’s workplace, Guilford pulled up outside. He was told to stay away from the witness.
The man who had been with Guilford earlier gave a statement that Guilford gave him a ride home around 7:30 p.m. and left. He said Guilford returned a short time later with a laptop and a “machine gun-looking firearm” in the back seat. He said Guilford did not say where he got the property.
The victim did not report the thefts immediately, thinking that his daughter may have borrowed the computer or camera when he could not locate them after returning home around 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 26.
Two days later, he realized some medication was also missing and contacted the police department to report the thefts.