Burglars apparently used a sledgehammer and pry bars to break into three Shell Mart convenience stores early Friday morning, Troup County sheriff’s investigators said.

Two of four suspects had been arrested by Friday evening.

The stores were hit in quit succession about 5 a.m. Friday, first on Upper Big Springs Road, then 4584 Hamilton Road and finally Ga. 18 at Interstate 185 in Harris County.

A Harris County sheriff’s deputy responding to the alarm met the suspects’ car as it was leaving the store on Ga. 18. After a brief chase, the car crashed into a tree off the interstate’s northbound ramp and the four Atlanta men fled.

Travis Tucker, 18, was arrested in the woods a short time later with the help of a sheriff’s canine. Demetrius Jenkins, 34, was arrested about 1:30 p.m. near an overpass at Dennis Smith Road and I-185 with the help of a LaGrange police canine. They were charged with two counts of burglary and one count of attempted burglary.

Recovered from the car were trays of lottery tickets, rolls of coins and a safe from the Harris County store, along with a sledgehammer and pry bars.

A canine unit from the state Department of Corrections joined in searching for the burglars.

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@ lagrangenews. com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.