A Vicksburg man jailed Tuesday in a string of auto burglaries and an auto theft might be linked to break-ins in a nearby area where residents have formed a Neighborhood Watch to fight continuing crime, Vicksburg police said Wednesday.

“This arrest should show a reduction in crime in the 2000 to 2500 block of Drummond,” said Vicksburg police Lt. Bobby Stewart, chief of investigations. “I feel this person is responsible for a lot of the crime in the area.”

Henry Armstead, 27, 2418 Halls Ferry Road, Apt. 2, was arrested at his girlfriend’s house on Yerger Street Tuesday after police received information that he had in his possession goods reported stolen earlier in the day from Baum, Chambers and Cherry streets, Stewart said.

Armstead’s arrest might lead police to clear up more burglaries reported in Fostoria, an area bounded by Drummond, Harris, Cherry and Bowmar and less than a block from the burglaries and thefts reported Tuesday, Stewart said.

The department is conducting interviews and reviewing burglary reports, he added.

After about two months of car and home burglaries, the Fostoria Neighborhood Association met last week for the second time to form a watch group, an action that resulted after an emergency meeting with Mayor Paul Winfield and high ranking officers at the Vicksburg Police Department was called June 30 because of two break-ins in less than a week at a neighbor’s home.

Before that, one resident had taken it upon himself to ride his scooter three times a day to patrol the area for suspicious activity.

In addition to the five counts of auto burglary and an auto theft for which Armstead was charged Tuesday, police charged Armstead this morning with another auto theft, auto burglary and business burglary. He was in the Warren County Jail on a $135,000 bond this morning.

In the additional charges, he is accused of breaking into Bell’s Towing Service, 1900 S. Frontage Road, and burglarizing a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta, which was there for service.

He is accused of taking the keys, a sub-woofer and its crossover, an amplifier and the battery, which had been reported missing Saturday.

Stewart said police recovered the keys in his possession during his arrest. Also, he is accused of taking a 1993 Ford Explorer from the 3200 block of Drummond Street, which was reported July 24. The vehicle was recovered over two weeks later on Aug. 11 at Dot and Marcus streets, the same location where police recovered another vehicle that he was also accused of taking, which was a 1992 Jeep Cherokee valued at $8,000 reported missing Tuesday from the 1300 block of Baum Street.

Additionally, he is accused of breaking in and taking three CD players and a gold necklace from five vehicles in the 1300 block of Baum, 2200 block of Cherry and the 1300 block of Chambers.

Most of the items reported missing have been recovered, and the Jeep and Ford Explorer were found a few blocks from where Armstead was arrested.

Armstead’s arrest is the fourth in a week in the area for auto burglaries and auto thefts, which amounted to more than $18,000 worth of items reported missing.

While the burglaries are occurring within short distances of one another, Stewart said, “It’s not a group of organized individuals.”

Earlier Tuesday, 18-year-old Joshua Coffee, 114 Kendra Drive and 241 Demby Drive, was arrested after a patrol officer spotted a man believed to be leaning into a broken window of a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am in the 2500 block of Drummond Street.

Coffee fled but was caught in a wooded area between Drummond and Letitia streets.

He remained in the Warren County Jail today without bond because he had been free on probation following a March 26 sentence for aggravated assault and strong-armed robbery, charges from more than a year ago.

On Friday, Vicksburg police arrested two men linked to three missing lawn mowers in three separate residential burglaries. Steven Lee Jackson, 33, 105 Openwood Lane, was charged with taking a mower from a home in the 2400 block of Cherry, a mower from a home in the 1300 block of Baum and a mower from a home in the 2300 block of Drummond.

Joe Cooper, 54, 2612 Oak St., was charged with receiving stolen property after he attempted to pawn two of the three mowers.

All three have been recovered.

Cooper was released from the Warren County Jail on a $5,000, but Jackson remained there without bond on hold for the Mississippi Department of Corrections.