By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A 36-year-old Alabaster man and a 39-year-old Alabaster man will spend several years on probation after they pleaded guilty to breaking into several vehicles in Alabaster’s Grande View Estates neighborhood in June.

Joshua Eric McConnell, 36, who lists an address on Seams Way in Alabaster, and 39-year-old Terry Ray Lawley Jr., who lists an address on Jefferson Lane in Alabaster, entered guilty pleas to the crimes during Oct. 28 and Oct. 1 hearings, respectively, in Shelby County District Court.

The Alabaster Police Department arrested McConnell and Lawley on June 2.

At the time of the arrests, Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney said the men were taken into custody during the early morning hours of June 2 after the Alabaster Police Department received a call from a Grande View resident reporting a suspicious vehicle in the neighborhood.

When officers arrived on the scene, they discovered many allegedly stolen items in the suspects’ vehicle, and received several stole property reports from neighborhood residents, Rigney said.

The property, all of which was stolen from unlocked vehicles, ranged from change and cash to laptops and sunglasses. Rigney encouraged all residents to ensure their vehicles are locked when not in use. Police returned many stolen items to owners the night the arrests were made.

Lawley originally was facing 12 felony charges of unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle, seven felony charges of second-degree theft of property and five misdemeanor counts of third-degree theft of property.

He pleaded guilty to six charges of unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle, and was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay $5,013 in restitution to the victims. All other charges pending against Lawley were dropped.

McConnell originally was facing 12 felony charges of unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle, seven felony second-degree theft of property charges, one felony charge of possession of a controlled substance, two fraudulent use of a credit or debit card, five misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia charges and five misdemeanor third-degree theft of property charges.

McConnell pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle, and was sentenced to two years of probation with the Shelby County Work Release Program. He also must pay $5,014 in restitution to the victims in the case.