The Mathews County Sheriff’s Office spent six months investigating a string of business burglaries in conjunction with the sheriff’s offices of Gloucester and Middlesex counties, culminating in the arrest and indictment of Fred Christopher Pryor, 67, of the 7600 block of Bellehaven Drive, Gloucester.

He was indicted by a Mathews Grand Jury on one count of grand larceny, two counts of burglary, two counts of petit larceny, three counts of tampering with a meter device, and three counts of destruction of property. He is being held at the Northern Neck Regional Jail.

According to a press release from Sheriff Mark Barrick, deputies first responded to a call at JL Marine Repair and All Around Auto in Cobbs Creek in October 2020. The owner had arrived at his shop to find that the power was out and both businesses, which share a common building, had been burglarized. The meter box had been pried off the side of the building, and entry had been gained through a rear door, where the glas...