MARIETTA - The number of looting arrests continue to pile up in Cobb following the disastrous flooding early last week that displaced thousands of residents in the southern part of the county.

Cobb Sgt. Dana Pierce released information Friday regarding the arrests of four males, one being a juvenile, who are accused of crimes "directly linked by investigators to the flooding of 2009 in unincorporated Cobb."

The four males who were arrested during three separate incidents throughout the week "are accused of victimizing homeowners who were displaced," Police reported.

Jerry Thomas, 57, of Lithia Springs, was charged with theft after police approached him on Wednesday in his white Ford pickup truck parked at a vacant residence on Clay Road in Austell, Pierce said. Police said he had a refrigerator and other items in the bed of the truck, and he admitted to officers that he did not know the homeowner and did not have permission to take anything from the residence. Before being taken to Cobb County Jail, officers told him to return the items from where he got them, Pierce said.

On Tuesday, police arrested Albert Watkins III, 47, of Austell, and 40-year-old Austell resident Annie Scott. Both were charged with theft and criminal trespass after a homeowner on Wesley Way in Austell arrived home to find the two men loading his refrigerator and dishwasher into a U-Haul truck, according to police.

The homeowner confronted the men, demanded his property back and called 911, police said. Two church volunteers helping flood victims in the area witnessed the incident, police said. Scott was also charged with possession of marijuana.

Both were taken to the county jail.

And on Sept. 24, Cobb police arrested a 16-year-old male and charged him with burglary after officers were dispatched to a home on Macedonia Road in Marietta. Officers entered the home through the front door, which was unsecured, and arrested the juvenile, Pierce said. He was charged with burglary and taken to Cobb County Juvenile Detention Center.

The arrests follow Wednesday's arrest of Theodore Jackson, 63, and Margret Pulliam, 62, both of Decatur, who were charged by Austell authorities with theft, criminal trespassing and loitering. Austell Mayor Joe Jerkins said the pair were arrested after being seen trying to take a mattress from a homeowner's front yard on Jones Road near Clay and Austell roads.

"The people have already lost everything they had," the mayor told the Journal on Thursday. "We aren't going to hold back on any charges. It's bad enough to steal things, but in this situation - it's just not right."

Jerkins said police also have leads on a pawn shop that was broken into during flooding early last week, and other reports of looting at homes have since been filed.

Police say they continue to "heavily" patrol the hard hit areas for looting.