MURFREESBORO – Two Suffolk men have been arrested and charged with a ring of theft that apparently began in their hometown, but ended here Friday night.

Capt. Christ Sumner of the Murfreesboro Police Department stated, &uot;We got a call from Food Lion at about 8:50 Friday night that the employees there had spotted two people they suspected as shoplifters.

&uot;Lt. J. Burgess and Officer B. Futrell responded to the location, and worked an investigation allowing the two suspects to exit the store,&uot; Sumner continued.

&uot;Once outside, the officers confronted the suspects and found both men to be in possession of hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise,&uot; he said.

The two men, Michael A. Hollomon, 34, of 917 Brook Ave., Suffolk, Va.; and Keitron E. Boone, 28, of 324 Holiday St., Suffolk, Va. were arrested and charged with felonious possession of stolen property.

&uot;One of the suspects had over $200 in merchandise on his person,&uot; Sumner stated. &uot;The other suspect had over $300 in merchandise on his person.&uot;

Sumner said the two men were wearing several layers of clothing and had stuffed items such as over the counter medicine, disposable cameras and razors in the various layers.

&uot;We were able to locate their automobile and after a search of that, found over $2,000 in merchandise from this Food Lion location and other Food Lion locations.

&uot;We also found merchandise from a General Dollar of an unknown location and several other items from stores that were unknown,&uot; Sumner said.

Sumner said the two had apparently entered the Food Lion on several occasions that same evening.

The Murfreesboro Police Department was assisted by the Hertford County Sheriff’s Office during the investigation, helping to secure the vehicle and in the processing of both suspects.

Both men were charged with felonious possession of stolen property and shoplifting.

In addition, Sumner said Boone was charged with possession of marijuana.

&uot;The officers on the scene also found a substance believed to be heroine on the Hollomon subject. We have charges pending on him as we wait for the results from the State Bureau of Investigation labm,&uot; Sumner said.

Boone was placed in the Hertford County Jail under a $4,000 secured bond and Hollomon was placed under a $3,500 secured bond.

Both men await their first court appearance, which is slated for Nov. 2, 2004.