Alert residents and quick response by the Selma police officers have resulted in the arrest of seven people on third-degree burglary charges from two separate incidents this week.

The seven were arrested and placed in the Dallas County Jail, where they were held under $15,000 bond, according to police spokesman Lt. David Evans.

In the most recent incident, police officer Matt Skelton saw a person walking in the Highland Avenue area Thursday night and asked some questions. A short time after that interview, officers discovered a burglary had occurred at an automobile service center in the area.

“With this information, they were able to connect the person stopped by officer Skelton to the burglary,” Evans said. “After an investigation, they were also able to identify two other suspects.”

The interviews and investigation led to information that allowed the officers to recover a money box taken in the burglary, Evans said, adding that one of the suspects was a former employee of the business and knew about security procedures.

Those suspects arrested and booked on third-degree burglary charges were Dustin Corey Ashley, 18, Plantersville; Richard Howard, 18, Selma; and Jonathon Langston, 18, Plantersville. Bond for all these suspects were set at $15,000.

Earlier in the week, residents of a mobile home park in West Selma called E-911 to report they saw men leaving a vacant mobile home with an air conditioning unit.

“Officer Natasha Rozzell stopped the vehicle a short distance away and recovered the air conditioner as well as other copper wiring and tubing that had been stripped from the trailer,” Evans said.

Those suspects arrested and booked on third-degree burglary charges in the mobile home incident include Anthony Carl Lewis, 29, Orrville; Frederick Jerome Ellis, 30, Selma; Tony Dewayne Ellis, 26, Selma; and Marcus Anthony Rentz, 24, Sardis. Bond for all these suspects were set at $15,000.