UPDATE: 1 arrest made in incident of stolen batteries from bus yards

The Delaware State Police say they have arrested one subject and are seeking the public’s help in finding two others that were involved in the theft of bus batteries.

According to the report, the thefts happened sometime on the night of September 13 into September 14. The incident happened at the Lambden Bus Company parking lot on Airport Road in Seaford and the Mary Bryant Inc. Bus Company located on Dukes Road in Laurel.  

Officials say that around 6AM, bus drivers began showing up to start their buses and when they didn’t start, they noticed batteries missing from the engine compartment.

Troopers responded to the two separate locations, which are about 7.5 miles apart, and the investigation found that unknown suspects removed 30 batteries by unknown means from 10 buses in the Lambden yard and 11 batteries from 5 buses in the Bryant yard before getting away.

On September 15, 2016, troopers say they responded to the Bethel Road in Laurel for another report of theft of 34 batteries from 17 buses parked on a farm.

The buses, which are apparently used to assist in harvesting watermelons, are reported to have contained two batteries per bus which were all dismantled by unknown means sometime between September 8 and the date they were reported missing.

Detectives say they learned later that same day that Thomas Johnson , 25 of Laurel, had scrapped a large amount of batteries at the Salisbury Scrap Metal located in Salisbury.

Further investigation found that Thomas, along with Dominic Horsey, 28, of Laurel, and, Jason Hamilton, 29, of Laurel, had been utilizing the same scrap yard over the course of the beginning of the month to scrap various amounts of batteries in exchange for money.

On Tuesday, Jason Hamilton turned himself into detectives at Troop 4 in Georgetown where he was charged with theft $1500 or greater, which is a felony, four counts of theft under $1500, three counts of conspiracy 3rd, and three counts of criminal trespass. He was arraigned at JP2 and released on a $7,000 unsecured bond.

Detectives are still looking for Dominic Horsey and Thomas Johnson who are wanted on the same charges as Hamilton.  

If anyone has any information regarding the whereabouts of these subjects, they are asked to contact Detective C. Simpson at 302-752-3855. Information may also be provided by calling Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, via the internet, at or by sending an anonymous tip by text to 274637 using the keyword “DSP.”