Andrews – A homeless man with a decade-long history of run-ins with local law enforcement is facing numerous criminal charges following vandalism of several buildings on March 17.
Devan Trey Jones, 33, remained in custody at the Cherokee County Detention Center in Murphy, with bond totaling $12,500. Jones was described as homeless but previously lived off Long Branch Road, just east of Topton.
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A citizen contacted Andrews police to report a window being broken at The Compound fitness center in the Andrews Town Centre shopping center off Wilson Street about 5 a.m. March 17, Andrews Police Chief Caleb Stiles said.
“The officer arrived on scene and began the investigation and discovered that the windows had been busted at numerous locations, including the library, rec park, town pool, community center, Hoppy Trout and Four Seasons hospice center,” Stiles said.
The vandalism occurred at seven locations and spanned a distance of nearly a half-mile.
“Video surveillance footage was pulled from several locations, and the suspect was identified as Devan Trey Jones,” Stiles said. “He was found within an hour asleep in the dugouts near the town pool. He was arrested and charged without further incident.”
Jones was charged with seven counts of injury to real property, one count of breaking or entering a building, two counts of attempted breaking or entering a building, first-degree trespass and injuring utility wires or fixtures.
“Just a ton of broken widows, and he also cut the fiber optic lines at the pool,” Stiles said. “We also charged breaking and entering because he busted the front door completely out at the hospice center and went into the building. Nothing major, other than being a nuisance.”
A number of affected buildings still had boarded up windows and doors 10 days after the incident.
Police arrested Jones within three hours, and Stiles notified owners of the damaged properties.
“I told the business owners I apologize that this happened under our watch,” Stiles said in the town’s newsletter, The Andrews Memo. “But the guy’s in jail, and we’re going to do our best to keep him there.”
Jones is scheduled to appear in Cherokee County District Court on Thursday, May 15. He has a long list of previous cases in the criminal justice system over the past decade, and is well known among Andrews police and Cherokee County sheriff’s deputies who patrol the area.
Cases have involved vandalism, assault, resisting arrest, drugs, arson and even breaking into a church. He also has a history of jumping bail, according to court records.
Jones has four other pending cases in Cherokee County:
- Possession with intent to sell or distribute methamphetamine in Andrews on Jan. 20, for which he was free on $1,000 secured bond at the time of the March 17 charges.
- Simple possession of a Schedule III controlled substance and setting fire to woods, lands or fields in Andrews on Dec. 18, 2024. In January, he forfeited $2,500 bond in that case.
- Breaking and entering a church on Nov. 24, 2024, arrested by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, with bail set at $3,000 unsecured bond.
- Possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia as well as resisting arrest in Andrews, with bond set at $2,500 on Sept. 23, 2024.