Paroled inmates arrested for St. Joe Beach burglaries
In the early morning hours of Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, two individuals entered over 30 unlocked vehicles in the St. Joe Beach community – taking two handguns and other items.
Video footage revealed that the suspects wore masks and were armed with handguns. Investigators with the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office and the Port St. Joe Police Department were able to locate evidence, which led them to identify a vehicle utilized in the crime spree.
The two suspects were identified as Thomas Edward Moore, 25, of Grimes, Iowa, and Damontae Naazir Hattix, 26, of Macon, Georgia.
Based on evidence obtained through videos and electronic evidence collected as a result of search warrants, investigators obtained warrants for the arrests of Moore and Hattix.
In an interview with Moore, investigators learned the area was chosen based on a prior visit to the beaches, but that this time they came for the sole purpose of committing the vehicle burglaries.
“We would like to thank the Port St. Joe Police Department for their assistance, along with the Johnston Police Department in Iowa, the Warner Robins Police Department in Georgia, and the Georgia Department of Community Supervision,” said Sheriff Mike Harrison. “Both Moore and Hattix are very familiar to the criminal justice system, and this is not their first rodeo.”
Hattix is on parole in Georgia for the primary offense of attempted murder on a conviction in Wisconsin. Hattix was released in October from a Wisconsin prison.
“We cannot stress enough to the community that they can help us prevent these crimes of opportunity by locking their vehicles,” said Harrison.
Moore was arrested in Iowa and extradited to Gulf County. He made a first appearance on Sunday, Feb. 2 and is held in the Gulf County Detention Facility on a $150,000 bond. Hattix was taken into custody Feb. 3 in Bibb County, Georgia, and is currently awaiting extradition to Gulf County.
Both Moore and Hattix face multiple counts of armed burglary.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.