A vacation home in eastern Rockdale County was burglarized on June 11 by a Lithonia man who eluded Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office deputies and tried to convince his girlfriend to cover for him.

A call came in to the RCSO at about 4 a.m. from a witness who reportedly saw a 6-foot-4 black male who walked around the home with a flashlight and walked out of the front door with a flat panel TV.

According to report, the residence is a vacation home and was last occupied in March.

“Deputies got there within a couple minutes of the burglary being called in,” just as the suspect, later identified as 29-year-old Herbert King III of Lithonia, was pulling out in a red van, said Investigator Michael Camp. “(The suspect) guns it and they go in opposite directions.”

Two patrol cars attempted to box in the van but the suspect was able to elude the patrol cars. After the suspect had fled, other deputies arrived on the scene to search and set up a perimeter, including deputies from Newton County and K9 units, but were unable to apprehend the suspect.

“He got away that night,” Camp said. “They went back and reviewed the video and got a real good shot of the driver of the van.”

The red van was found a couple streets over abandoned with the stolen TV inside and the suspect gone. The van was registered to the suspect’s girlfriend, who had reportedly called police after the burglary, to report it stolen.

However, the suspect was later caught after being pulled over for a traffic stop outside of Rockdale. His girlfriend then cooperated with authorities.

According to reports, she said King had called her and told her he was being chased by police and she needed to report her van stolen.

“She had to give up her boyfriend because she was looking at false report of a crime,” Camp said.

After being taken to DeKalb County jail on other outstanding charges, King III was transferred to Rockdale on charges of burglary, driving while license suspended/revoked, fleeing/attempting to elude a police officer, possession of tools for a crime.

He had previously been arrested for burglary in DeKalb County in August 2010 and recently pled guilty to a lesser count of criminal trespass misdemeanor sentenced in May 2011 to one year probation and 80 hours of community service.