Burglaries solved

By Al Summers

With a lucky break here and there, Gilmer County Sheriff’s Department detectives have solved a number of recent burglaries and returned stolen items to their rightful owners.

Capt. R.T. Henry told the Times-Courier that a “several-month investigation by the department’s criminal investigation division (CID) had led to arrests in five commercial burglaries and six residential burglaries. Henry said, “Three of the commercial burglaries occurred in the city of East Ellijay, and all of the other burglaries occurred at various other locations in Gilmer County.

Henry went on to say, “At this point, two people have been charged in connection with these burglaries. However, we are not releasing their names at this time due to the fact that the investigation is ongoing with more arrests possible. Once the investigation is complete and all parties arrested and charged, we will release all of the names.”

The chief detective said that suspects are being looked at in as many as six other burglaries.

Last week, Willie McCoy was arrested at the East Ellijay Advance Auto on an outstanding warrant after a fight with East Ellijay Police officers. A search warrant was executed on the van in which McCoy was either the driver or a passenger.

Items located in that van launched another burglary investigation by detectives Lane Bennett, Ricky Clayton, and Calvin Wilson that turned up, according to Henry, “a substantial amount of stolen property that includes firearms, television sets, power tools, jewelry, money, electronic equipment, a piece of heavy equipment and a stolen vehicle.”

The detective said the items came from various locations within Gilmer County. Henry said, “At this time, several suspects have been identified and approximately seven individuals could face numerous counts of burglary, theft by taking, theft by receiving, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and hindering the apprehension of a fugitive.”

All of those crimes are felonies.

In a joint statement, Gilmer County Sheriff Stacy Nicholson and Henry said, “We would like to thank the anonymous citizens for their information and assistance regarding this case so far. We are proud to serve our citizens, but we are very proud of those citizens who are willing to step forward to assist to see that justice is done.”

Both lawmen commented that these types of cases take a lot of time and diligent work on the part of detectives, and had high praise of detectives Clayton and Eldridge Harper for their work.

Nicholson said, “As always, my door is open to the public, and if any citizen has information that may help in any criminal case to come and see me. Or call (706) 635-4646 and ask to speak to any one of the detectives and give them any information. Citizens can do this without fear that their names will be released.”