50-year-old man charged in connection to multiple burglaries and thefts

PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) -- A 50-year-old man has been charged with multiple crimes after a series of burglaries and thefts in both Petersburg and Colonial Heights.

At 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 24, officers with the Colonial Heights Police Department received a call about multiple vehicles being broken into in the 700 block of Hamilton Avenue.

When officers arrived, police said they found a man who matched the description that a victim provided, but he ran away. After a brief food chase, officers arrested 50-year-old Robert Allen Branch of South Chesterfield, near Colonial Avenue and East Westover Avenue.

During the arrest, police found a bag with burglary tools, facemasks and a firearm.

Branch has also been identified as a suspect in a burglary that occurred the day before, on Friday, May 23, in the 200 block of Danville Avenue.

Branch has also been charged with multiple church break-ins and a residential burglary, and he "remains incarcerated on those charges as well," according to the Petersburg Bureau of Police.

For the May 24 auto break-in, Branch was been charged with the following:

• Larceny of a firearm
• Possession of burglarious tools
• Petit larceny
• Carrying a concealed weapon
• Obstruction of justice
• Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
• Providing false identification to law enforcement

For the May 23 burglary, Branch faces the following charges:

• Breaking and entering
• Grand larceny
• Wearing a mask
• Vandalism

Branch is being held at Riverside Regional Jail without bond.

Detectives from Colonial Heights and Petersburg are continuing to investigate any additional crimes that may be connected to Branch.

Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to contact Officer Peter at 804-529-9300 with the extention 7, or via email at petera@colonialheightsva.gov.