Thursday November 22, 2007
Gilmer detectives break up thriving theft operation Joint effort also leads to capture of vehicular homicide suspect
by Al Summers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gilmer County detectives have broken up a theft operation that has been operation in the county for approximately six months. According to Gilmer County Chief Detective R.T. Henry, two men have been arrested in connection with the theft investigation that was aided with a tip form a concerned citizen in another county. Arrested were Clint Becker, 20, of Ellijay, and Michael Westphal, 21, of Jasper. They were each charged with two counts of burglary, 13 counts of theft by taking, and 10 counts of entering an auto. So far around $11,000 worth of stolen property, including motorcycles, power tools, and copper wire, has been recovered from the suspects. Henry said the burglaries had occurred in East Ellijay, Ellijay, and around Gilmer County. He commended Det. Lane Bennett of the county’s criminal investigation division for his work on the case. Bennett, working with Ellijay Police Lt. Eddie Gilmore, also arrested a fugitive involved in the Nov. 3 motor vehicle accident that resulted in two fatalities of elderly women from Catoosa County. Adolfo Alonzo, who was driving a van that struck two vehicles on Hwy. 282, killing the two women who were in a sedan, was transported to a Chattanooga hospital by air ambulance. He was released before warrants arrived for his arrest, and headed back to Gilmer County. Appalachian Judicial Circuit District Attorney Joe Hendricks and Gilmer County Sheriff Stacy Nicholson initiated an investigation and a plan to take Alonzo in to custody. Bennett and Gilmore arrested Alonzo without incident, and he has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, one count of serious injury by a vehicle, DUI, driving on the wrong side of the road, failure to drive within a single lane, seat belt violation, open container, and reckless driving. Alonzo is still incarcerated in the Gilmer County Detention Center awaiting an interview with immigration authorities. Nicholson expressed his appreciation for the job done by Bennett and Gilmore. He want on to say, “We wanted to make sure the same thing that happened in a similar case a few years ago did not occur again. In that case, a young man, Dustin Inman, was tragically killed in an automobile accident, and the suspect in that case, Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez, later walked away from a Dalton hospital. He is out there somewhere, and we are still looking for him.” |