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Decatur man arrested for New Year’s Eve Bentley theft
Antonio Merrell McCrary Jr
Antonio Merrell McCrary Jr.

A Decatur man has been arrested and accused of stealing a $300,000 Bentley SUV from a Forsyth County residence in late 2017 after investigators allegedly found pictures of him with the vehicle on social media, authorities say.

Antonio Merrell McCrary, 21, was arrested May 16 by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office in connection with the burglary of a northwestern Forsyth residence on New Year’s Eve and several vehicle break-ins at the Johns Creek Gun Range, after he was released on bond from the DeKalb County Jail, according to Cpl. Doug Rainwater of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.

Prior to his arrest in DeKalb, McCrary was wanted in Forsyth County after he was allegedly caught on camera in December 2017 at the Johns Creek Gun Range entering two locked vehicles and smashing their side windows with a crowbar to steal valuables and guns from within, Rainwater said.

Rainwater said that McCrary was also linked to the burglary of a home in northwestern Forsyth on New Year’s Eve when four suspects stole a number of high-dollar items, including a $10,000 Tiffany bracelet, $2,000 in computer hardware, $2,100 in clothing and a $300,000 Bentley SUV.

According to an incident report from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, at 4:16 p.m. Dec. 31, deputies with Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home on Archer Avenue in response to a residential alarm. The law enforcement officials noticed the door on the top floor was open and the garage door as well. The main door was open with keys still in the door.

As in the Johns Creek Gun Range theft, Rainwater said that McCrary was linked to the burglary via videos and social media posts that allegedly tied him to both scenes.

“We have photos of McCrary with the Bentley wearing the same clothes a suspect was seen wearing in the video,” he said.  “Photos were the breaking point that put McCrary in jail.”

Rainwater said that they are still searching for another suspect in connection with the theft at the Johns Creek Gun Range, and three other suspects in connection with the burglary in northwestern Forsyth. 

McCrary has been charged with one count of burglary, two counts of theft entering auto, theft by taking: truck, van or bus, two counts of criminal damage to property, possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a felony, and has been booked into the Forsyth County Jail under a bond of $83,290.