NORFOLK, Va. - Police have arrested a man wanted in connection to three homicides in both Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
30-year-old Cola W. Beale was taken into custody without incident around 11:55pm on Wednesday by the Hampton Police Division SWAT Team. Police said he was located in a home on 4th Street that is near Buckroe beach.
The arrest was the culmination of a joint investigation by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, the Virginia Beach Police Department, and the Norfolk Police Department.
Beale will be held at the Virginia Beach City Jail.
He was wanted in connection with a homicide on Sewells Point Road.
While assisting another law enforcement agency, Norfolk Police found the body of a man in a home in the 3000 block of Sewells Point Road around 3:35 p.m., on March 28. The man, 32-year-old Downing D. Mclean, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police have charged Beale IV with second-degree murder in connection to the Norfolk homicide.
On Tuesday, we told you that Beale is also wanted in connection with two homicides in Virginia Beach and was considered armed and dangerous.
He was wanted for a deadly townhouse fire in the 5500 block of Baccalaureate Drive and shooting in the 700 block of Linda Court last week.
Beale has a criminal history dating back to 2005. Armed robbery and sexual assault on child are just a few of the crimes for which Beale served prison time.
According to court documents, Beale pleaded guilty to sexual battery with a child younger than 13 years old. He was sentenced to a year in prison in 2018 for sexual abuse that happened in 2005.
Because of a plea agreement with Beale pleading guilty, the charge was reduced to misdemeanor under the condition Beale would register as a sex offender. Beale registered with the sex offender registry in 2018 and again in 2020, listing his address in Virginia Beach.
News 3 combed through documents, and they reveal Beale pleaded guilty to several charges in 2012, including conspiracy, two separate charges of robbery including armed robbery and use of a firearm by a felony.
Beale served six years for those crimes under the condition of good behavior after his release and supervised probation. He was released under the condition of having good behavior upon release, but in 2019 he was arrested for violation of probation.
According to court documents, his last known place of employment was at a thrift store.
The investigation is ongoing.
