Bainbridge police are investigating two thefts that have occurred at the Charter House Inn this month.

In the most recent, on Aug. 8, the motel’s manager reported to police that someone had forced open the cash register drawer in the motel’s lounge and took more than $200. An employee had opened up the lounge, discovered the theft and observed a bent bar tool laying on the counter by the cash register. Investigator James Dollar said this week he continues to look into what happened to the missing money.

On Aug. 2, another Charter House employee had reported someone stole more than $200 from the cash register behind the front desk while she was away from the office. Although the office has security measures, the employee speculated that someone had to have jumped over the front counter and take the money. The employee stated she may have been purposefully distracted away from the desk by a young male who had been staying at the motel, who had left with three other men shortly before the money was discovered missing.

BPS Investigator Mark Esquivel is looking into that theft.

Man arrested on drug charges

On Tuesday, Sheriff’s deputies arrested a man after finding suspected cocaine and drug paraphernalia at his house.

Gerardo Pequeno, 30, of 214 Slough Loop Road, Bainbridge, was charged by the Sheriff’s Office with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. On Tuesday afternoon, Capt. Chip Nix and Sgt. Jason Williams visited Pequeno’s residence received a complaint from a concerned citizen that cocaine was being sold out of the residence. After getting permission from Pequeno’s girlfriend to search the residence, Sgt. Williams found a plastic bag containing a compressed piece of suspected cocaine hidden inside a dresser drawer.

The deputies later learned a third person had came by Pequeno’s house after their search and removed a set of digital scales and plastic baggies from within. Deputies recovered the items and arrested Pequeno at his workplace.

Property thefts

BPS and the Sheriff’s Office have received a number of reports of personal property being stolen from cars and houses in recent month, and the trend is on the rise elsewhere, too.

There are several easy ways by which people can protect themselves from losing their property due to crimes such as burglary, theft and larceny, according to police and insurance companies:

 Lock the doors of your vehicles and roll up the windows when you go inside the house; and don’t leave anything of value in plain sight within the car. Instead, consider moving valuables to the glove box, trunk or a secured tool box or cargo area.

 Park in well-lit, high-traffic areas. Thieves are more likely to break into vehicles when they think they won’t be likely to be seen by other people.

 Consider installing an alarm system for your vehicle if it doesn’t already have one. Custom-installed stereos should have removable faceplates to discourage their theft.

Don’t leave valuable items outdoors. Secure them in locked buildings or behind locked fences or gates.

Record model and serial number information for valuable items and keep the paperwork in a safe place.

Take photographs of property and keep a property inventory.

 When valuables go missing, contact law enforcement as soon as possible once it’s determined they haven’t been accidentally misplaced. Often thieves quickly re-sell stolen items to pawn shops. If police are familiar with what has been reported stolen and have a picture of it, they have a better chance of spotting the item if they come across it while on patrol or during investigation into other thefts.

To contact the Sheriff’s Office, call 248-3044; for Bainbridge Public Safety, call 248-2038.