Trash pick-up was late on Thursday for a good reason.
Workers at Augusta Disposal & Recycling in Evans arrived in the morning to discover the batteries missing from their fleet of 11 recycling trucks.
Luckily, the thieves weren’t the brightest and raised suspicions when they tried to sell the batteries to an Augusta recycler the same day, according to authorities.
Richmond County authorities notified Columbia County that they had four people trying to sell 22 batteries, and that led to the arrests of the alleged thieves:
Robert Jackson, 32 (pictured from left), Kayla Bowdoin, 21, Travis Lewis, 24, and Billy Cowart, 22, were each charged with theft by taking in connection with that theft.
Authorities say the theft ring also stole a 2002 Ford pick-up truck from the recycling center on Triangle Industrial Court.
The foursome were also linked to a theft overnight Wednesday at Westside Heating, where a truck as damaged and tools stolen from inside, authorities said.