Date- 030110
PENS Bulletin
Ladies and Gentlemen, here is a summary of trends that we are seeing in your area.
Questions and Answers-
We received the following information on a recent scam by a crew claiming to be a gutter company. The name of the company is under current investigation and thus is not being released, however the information you need to be aware of is included as follows:
Want to report this incident in the hopes that others in the area do not succumb to this scam:
A grey pick up truck pulled up in front of my home Wednesday (2/21) and a stocky white male of about 35 knocked on my door to ask if I needed my gutters cleaned of debris. I agreed and his team (a constantly smoking mid 50's white male with a thin build and a mid 50's white female with no front teeth) put up ladders, started their blowers and went to work. When they finished, the younger man indicated that he found that our gutters were missing nails and were very close to coming off the roof and that there was a large area of open space between the gutter and the roof where critters could enter the attic space. He said he happened to have the tools in his truck and could fix this for an additional $200. I declined, but got his business card and they left. I called a roofer that I know and trust and he came over immediately and inspected the "damage". He stated that there are no open spaces between the roof and the gutter and further he brought down several nails used to hold up the gutter and it appeared that they had been purposefully cut in half. The cut marks were new with no rust or debris from water and leaves which would seem to indicate it was recently done.
I believe this was a Scam in which the gutter-cleaners purposefully did the damage and then attempted to have the homeowner pay for additional repairs.
End of email.
Prevention tips-
Number one, watch and supervise any contract work being completed on your home. Secondly, be suspicious of contract work coming to your door. They may have targeted you as an unsuspecting victim of a bad business deal. If you need work done on your residence, you should look up the business your self and only hire them after you have done your homework and know what type of history the company has.
Note: If you agree to a bad deal, there could likely be no crime for police to investigate and charge. Without witnessing it, proving damage was done maliciously can prove to be difficult. You may be stuck with only civil litigation with the hopes of a civil court decision to get your money back.
Current crime trends-
There were no major Burglary trends with 414 beat having four residential burglaries.
Entering Autos remained low, however the ones we had were preventable. Here are a few examples.
Research Dr.-Two unlocked vehicles were entered with no items known to be missing.
Pine Meadow Dr.-Unlocked vehicle was entered. Left in the vehicle was an 8g Ipod and wallet with contents which were subsequently taken.
Field Creek Ct- No indication of forced entry. $ 70 cash, Bluetooth, binoculars were taken.
Bentley Rd (KinderCare Daycare Center)- Victim left her vehicle unlocked while she took her children into the center. When she returned to the car, someone had taken her purse that had been left on the seat.
E. Lake Dr (East Lake Apts)- Vehicle was parked unlocked. A Backpack, Oakley sunglasses, iPod shuffle, Oxycoden pills and Zanax pills all taken.
In the 416 and 414 beat area there were a number of vehicles stolen and later recovered in other apartment complexes. Most were vehicles left warming up in the morning hours.
We have seen a few more “high end” appliance thefts from unoccupied homes for sale. (One in 417 beat and two in 415 beat) Det. Yager participated this past week with the following raid with the Fulton County Multi-Jurisdictional Burglary task force. The following is the information from Sandy Springs Police:
On February 23rd, pursuant to an on-going investigation, the Fulton County Multi-Jurisdictional Burglary Task Force, in conjunction with Detectives from Cobb and Gwinnett Counties, executed a search warrant where over 25 stolen high end appliances were recovered. The suspects, Joseph Mobbs, Ken Devrick, and Tracy Devrick were all arrested and now face numerous felony charges in multiple jurisdictions.
Seized documents included pictures of suspected stolen merchandise listed on Craig’s List as well as shipping logs of stolen appliances being sent out of state. Some of you may have seen the story broadcasted on the major news channels Monday. As a result, many people have being calling in to report that they may have purchased some of these items.
End
We will be working in conjunction with that investigation to be sure that any of our related cases that we can solve do reach a resolution.
Significant Arrests-
417 Beat
021610 2334 hours.-555 Johnson Ferry Rd. (Johnson Ferry Animal Hospital)- Officer Hoffman and Officer Gasque responded to an auto accident with injuries on Johnson Ferry Rd. near Woodlawn Dr. During the course of their investigation of the accident it was determined that the driver was under the influence of some type of drug and/or alcohol. During an impound inventory of the vehicle they located multiple bottles of pills and inject able controlled substances which are commonly used in veterinary clinics.
Investigative follow up by Officer M.C. Gasque located forced entry through the rear window at the Johnson Ferry Animal Hospital. (Location suggested by Officer Hultberg) Multiple veterinary narcotics were taken from the business with matching markings to the bottles located in the suspect’s vehicle. Victim advised the suspect was a former employee with knowledge of the location.
Charges:
Burglary
V.G.C.S.A. Intent to Distribute, Possession
DUI
Failure to maintain lane
Suspended License
Arrested:
Augestad, Nathan
Marietta GA.
414 Beat
022310 1323 hrs- Bob Bettis Rd- while on routine patrol, Officer Goodman observed 4 teenagers walking around this residence. Upon further investigation he discovered that they had made entry from the rear of the house. Officer Goodman entered the residence and confronted the subjects in an upstairs bedroom. All subjects were Sprayberry High students skipping school. Also inside the room was drug paraphernalia, multiple DVD movies, video games, jewelry and cash. All subjects were arrested and charged with Criminal Trespass. The recovered property is being further investigated by CIU 4 Det. Clere.
Rumor Control-
We received the email chains involving suspicious vehicles in and around the bus stops in mainly the 413 and 415 beat areas. The newest email was about a silver van with the male with a Jamaican accent as seen in the Lake Fjord area. That somehow got tied together with the white Ford Taurus that had been sent to us the previous month in Meadow Chase. The driver of the Ford Taurus was stopped and dealt with the same week that we received the email through PENS about it. He has been identified and dealt with accordingly. I need to clarify that we have no reason to believe that these two vehicles are in any way connected. No police report was filed on the silver van nor did anyone call 9-1-1 at the time of occurrence. Below is the email on the Silver Van. The area had been patrolled heavily and we have had no further reports about it since. Again, I need to stress calling 9-1-1 when something like this occurs to get a beat car out to investigate immediately and get the incident reported.
Here is the email;
This happened in Lake Fjord.
I was one house length away(my yard) from the bus stop yesterday waiting for the kids. A silver van stopped in front of me and waited. (in stead of going down to the bus and stopping, like he should have done) His windows were tinted so dark, I could not see anything. As soon as the kids got off the bus and ran toward me, he rolled down his window and asked if they were all mine. As I was answering "Yes", I noticed a built in cage behind the front seats. At this point he took off. This all happened within a few seconds.
I don't know if this is a threat or not, but I think we should be on the lookout for this guy. There was just too many red flags!
Black Male - Jamaican Accent - Approximately 40 - Silver Van / Black Windows (This is a family style van with, I believe, sliding doors on the side. It was not a work van and had no markings. Tristen said he saw dents in the back.)
End
What you and your neighbors can do-
Continue your vigilance with locking your car doors and removing valuables. I want to say that our Entering Auto reduction is a direct result of continuing efforts in educating citizens.
If there are any suspicious vehicles and persons around the school bus stops, they need to be called in to 9-1-1 immediately to afford the opportunity for police to be dispatched to investigate and report the incident. Reporting the incident only to the school will not assure the information will get to the police.
Be safe out there. Sgt Nelson
The PENS Dispatch
PENS Bulletin
February 15th, 2010
Current crime trends-
We just had an East Cobb resident get ripped off for $7000 from their bank account through a card skimming incident. Here are the details:
I want to share the below e-mails with you because this is a real life East Cobb incident. This is a strong argument for the suggestion that you have two separate accounts, one with minimal funds just for ATM/debit card transactions and the other to manage your monthly bills and expenses. That would minimize your loss should your ATM account information be stolen.
It would be difficult to tell exactly when or how the account was compromised. I personally find it less likely that the waiter copied the information than the card being skimmed at a machine somewhere. Although, we have made a case in the past against a fast food restaurant employee for skimming information so I guess it's possible.
Here it is:
Hi Lt. Chenoweth,
A neighbor just provided the account below of having their debit card info stolen, and then the thief used this info to drain their bank account -- even while the debit card was still in their possession! Thought you might be interested in this for the PENS group. (Do you think there is much chance of catching whoever stole their debit card info?)
From my neighbor:
Yes it is OK to share this with Lt. Chenoweth, but please ask him to leave it anonymous.
In answer to your question, we suspect that my husband's debit card number was stolen at a restaurant since at other merchants his debit card is never out of his sight. What I mean by that is at places like Target, Wal-Mart, Publix, Costco, etc. the customer scans their own card.
We believe a waiter sized us up while eating dinner one night and decided that we either had money (so funny since you have seen the size of our house and the age of our cars!!!) or were not the type of individuals to check our bank account on a regular basis. My husband and I are always friendly with our wait staff and almost always leave a 20% tip. We both used to work in restaurants while in college and respect the wait person's position and the hard work involved. We are now wondering if our friendliness left us vulnerable and open to this type of crime.
Anyway, when paying at sit-down restaurants the waiter takes your card and runs it through the machine while out of your sight and then brings the card back to your table. This move allows ample opportunity to write down your debit card number, the three-digit security number that is located on the back of the card, and your name. Later, the thief looks up your home address, which is typically your billing address, in order to tie-out the address with your card number should the merchant require it for processing. At this point, they have enough information to do some serious damage.
All I can say is we were so naive. Because of the PENS alerts we have gotten into the habit of inspecting scanners at gas stations and ATMs, but we never thought about restaurants and other closely-held businesses as providing another resource for debit card number theft.
As they say, live and learn.
Hey Neighbors:
All of these e-mails that we have received from PENS and friends about debit card number theft is right on and should be heeded.
Sometime over the past couple weeks someone stole Ron's debit card number (he still has the original card in his possession). Anyway, when we could not pay for dinner last night we were alerted that something was seriously wrong with his card and our joint checking account. To make a long story short, the thief has already stolen $7,000 worth of cash from our account from purchases made in and around Atlanta. Here is why the problem got so big so fast:
1) We rarely check our bank account balances since we are both accountants and keep an accurate check register. This is/was a major mistake on our part and will never happen again.
2) We had moved money over at the first of the month to cover the big expenses, i.e., mortgage, car payment, etc. Thieves know when to strike and it is when the cash is most likely to be available. Also, living in a "highly desirable zip code" is a major marker for us sitting ducks.
3) We have overdraft protection on our checking account which allowed them to continue to steal more cash from our account since the bank kept replenishing it and we were clueless since we did not check our account balances.
4) We trusted the bank to actually acknowledge the fraud alert immediately which they did not. The bank still managed to allow another $2,800+ debit to flow through the account this morning.
5) Lastly, and most frightening of all, these people know where we live.
We have traced our use of the debit card over the past month and the debit card number was most likely stolen by a local retailer's employee. Again, we still have the original card in our possession and we have not withdrawn any cash from an ATM over the past few months.
Our apologies for such a long posting, but this matter has been devastating for our family and we hope never happens to your family. The domino affect has been great. Remember, this has been CASH stolen. There is recourse available, but it is not overnight and does not pay the bills that are currently awaiting payment.
What you and your neighbors can do-
The above incident is a good argument for maintaining two separate bank accounts. One with minimal funds just for your ATM/Debit card transactions and one for your general banking needs. That way, should your ATM/Debit account get compromised, you suffer minimal loss.
Arrest Cases:
Beat 413
4292 Revere Circle
Marietta, GA 30062
Theft by conversion
10/20/09 to 02/01/10 (10014094) On 10/20/09, an East Cobb County resident provided a deposit to an independent contractor for restoration work to be performed in the homeowners basement. The contractor, Alexander K. Smith (Orbit Carpet Care and Restoration), failed to honor the contract and has not returned to the job site since late October and has not been heard from since early December. An investigation into this matter by Detectives assigned to Cobb Police Precinct IV revealed two similar related incidents involving Smith which took place in Henry County. Based on our investigation, the facts and circumstances indicate Smith is a dedicated scam artist and residents living within Cobb County should be alerted to his methods and operation. To date, however, only one incident has been reported within Cobb County.
An arrest warrant for one count of felony theft by conversion was issued by the Magistrate Court of Cobb County in reference to this incident.
Arrested via warrant on 02/08/10:
Alexander K. Smith
McDonough, Georgia 30252
1 Felony count of Theft by conversion
Beat 412
Burglary/ Residence/ Force
082309 1400 to 082509 1800 hrs-Shady Hill Rd- vacant house for sale. Dacor stainless steel cooktop taken.
Beat 413
Burglary/ Residence/ Force
071009 0930 to 071109 1000 hrs- Robert Lane- vacant house for sale. Forced entry to a rear window. High end kitchen appliances stolen- Wolf cook top and a Viking built in oven.
Beat 417
Burglary/ Residence/ Force
111409 1500 to 112109 1345 hrs- Westbury Park Ct (Westbury Park)- vacant foreclosed residence. Rear door was found unlocked. Wolf appliances taken from the kitchen.
Beat 417
Burglary/ Residence/ Force
111409 1200 to 112309 1500 hours- Westbury Park Pl (Westbury Park)- Vacant residence. Rear windows had pry marks and was cracked.
Further investigation of a case where the suspect was charged with two counts of entering auto, Det. Yager found three other locations in the GPS unit of residential burglaries of vacant houses that had appliances taken. Warrant 01-W-1471 was issued for the suspect for three counts of residential burglaries and one residential burglary attempt.
Arrested via warrant on 021210:
Campbell, Marquise Delvon
Lithonia, GA 30058
Posted February 8th, 2010
The below is a B.O.L.O. on a suspicious person in the Mt Bethel school area. This was a late development on Friday as we (PENS) heard of this through the grapevine (thank you Wendy) and did some quick follow up investigation to determine its accuracy and the facts before sending it out. Right now, this is a suspicious person incident and the subject has not committed any violations at this time. Just be aware and educate your children on how to deal with suspicious activity. The below text is an email that was sent to me from our Precinct Desk Officer after he talked with the involved family. This was handled exactly how we would want a child to respond.
This information is being sent out just as an FYI, to alert Mt. Bethel families of an incident that occurred in New Bedford at a bus stop this past week.
Subject: Suspicious person Bedford Oaks
Sir,
The child who is 10 reported that after he got off the bus at Bedford Oaks Dr and Bedford Oaks PL he was approached by a hispanic male. 5'08-5'10 ( juveniles words were a little shorter than you and I am 6'00 even.) mustache extending to the edges of his lips, short dark hair, he was unsure of age, heavy set, wearing a red t shirt. The juvenile said the male was already standing outside of his white pickup truck. The juvenile told me that he thought maybe it was a neighbor or someone working for a neighbor until the man told him that his parents had an emergency and told him to pick the child up. The juvenile told me that at this point he ran home which was just a few houses away. Mom advised that she has no idea who or why this person might approach her son in particular. I contacted Sgt. Rolfe of Campus Police and he is now aware of the incident and he is going to contact Mt Bethel. If there is any other info you need I will get it.
PLEASE NOTE: Anyone or anything suspicious, should immediately be reported to Cobb County Police.
Posted January 15, 2010
PENS Bulletin
January 15, 2010
Ladies and Gentlemen, here is a summary of trends that we are seeing in your area. Be sure to check your PENS Web site for reports and details.
Significant arrest update- Aggravated Assault / Glasgow Rd
COBB COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
PUBLIC INFORMATION RECORD
Incident(s) Brief:
- ***Update*** on Aggravated Assault (12/10/09 @ 2035 hours in Zone 4) The Cobb County Police Department’s Crimes Against Persons Unit is investigating an Aggravated Assault which occurred on Glasgow Road in Marietta, Georgia.
According to investigators, a homeowner and his wife arrived at their home on Glasgow Road and exited their vehicle. The couple was approached by a group of males who were armed with handguns. The male homeowner displayed a weapon of his own and gunfire was exchanged between the homeowner and suspects.
As a result of gunfire, the male homeowner was transported to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. One suspect was also transported to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital. Another suspect who was not located at the scene was located at Emory Midtown Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.
Raymond Reedy Jr., a 22 year old male from Atlanta, Georgia, was pronounced deceased at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
Wayne Spear, a 19 year old male from Atlanta, Georgia, was treated for a gunshot wound at Emory Midtown Hospital. Spear has been charged with Felony Murder and Aggravated Assault.
Investigators have identified Willie Sinkfield, a 21 year old male from Atlanta, Georgia, as also being at the scene of the crime. Sinkfield has been charged with Felony Murder and Aggravated Assault.
At this time both Spear and Sinkfield are being held at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.
***UPDATE***
During the course of their investigation the Crimes Against Persons Unit developed information which identified Jonathan Lindley, a 22 year old male, as having fled the scene. Investigators obtained a warrant for his arrest.
On 01/13/10 Jonathan Lindley was arrested by agents with the United States Marshals Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force. Lindley has been charged with Felony Murder and Aggravated Assault and he is currently being held at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.
2010 Census is underway;
Here are some tips for you to remember;
Here is a link to the census bureau website that tells what questions they will ask-
http://2010.census.gov/partners/pdf/ConstituentFAQ.pdf
Remember this;
If a U.S. Census worker knocks on your door, he or she will have a badge, a handheld device, a Census Bureau canvas bag, and a confidentiality notice.
Ask to see their identification and their badge before answering their questions. However, you should never invite anyone you don't know into your home.
Do not give your Social Security number, credit card or banking information to anyone, even if they claim they need it for the U.S. Census.
Twitter-
Don’t forget to sign up to follow Cobb Police Precinct Four PENS on Twitter.
Current crime trends-
Actually things are very, very quiet in East Cobb right now. All of our crime trends are extremely low this month. I gather the weather has played a huge role in keeping the criminals at bay.
We are still losing mail from mailboxes that contain gift cards.
Just a friendly reminder to not leave items of value exposed to theft inside your vehicle. Purses continue to be stolen.
Be safe out there. Lt Chenoweth
Posted December 30, 2009
PENS Bulletin
December 22, 2009
Ladies and Gentlemen, here is a summary of trends that we are seeing in your area. Be sure to check your PENS Web site for reports and details.
I have been authorized by Public Safety Director Lloyd and Chief Hatfield to establish twitter as a pilot program for Precinct Four PENS. What is twitter? Those of you not familiar can visit the website at twitter.com for details. You must establish a twitter account to participate. The service is free except for the normal charges that may apply to your cell phone service for text messaging. We will NOT bombard you with text messages. Just matters of importance will be sent via text. This gives us the opportunity to send important information or reminders to you via text message on your cell phone or mobile device.
Precinct Four PENS members are NOT automatically signed up to receive these text messages. You have to sign up for the service and establish the settings for your account which includes a link to set up a mobile device to receive the messages.
On the homepage for your account there is a link for “Find People” in the top right corner of the homepage. Go to that link and search for our Precinct Four user name which is- CobbCoPDPct4. The Precinct Four account will be displayed. Under “actions” click the box to “follow” CobbCoPDPct4.
If you are interested in participating but are having difficulty getting set up, contact me and I’ll help.
Please understand that our Twitter text program is currently restricted to one way communication- from us to you. We will not be able to respond to any text messages from the community at this time.
PENS information;
I have recently learned that there has been some concern from some of our members about certain information not being released through PENS, such as a shooting incident for example. Everyone needs to understand that PENS was developed in our Crimes Against Property Division and is a property crime based program- Burglary, Entering Autos, Thefts and Criminal Damage to Property. We do not release information related to Crimes Against Persons or Crimes Against Children without the specific approval of the supervisors of those units. We do not want to release something about one of their investigations that may prove to be inaccurate or cause harm to their ability to investigate their case. We will provide information on such incidents when it’s appropriate for us to do so.
We also do not report all crimes that occur on our PENS bulletins. We only report recognized crime trends. This also was the established standard at the beginning of our program. If a person is interested in the daily crime reports, they are available on the PENS website under the Crime Report link.
Questions and Answers-
Below is a question and answer from one of our May 2009 PENS bulletins concerning the discharging of weapons. I am providing this again because apparently there has been a recent incident in one of our communities where someone was hit in the face by a BB discharged from a BB gun. This is exactly why this subject came up in the first place, concern that someone might be hurt.
Q-
I have a question for you. We have several kids in the neighborhood with pellet guns and they walk around just shooting whatever comes across their path (not people or animals). There are a couple of other kids that have pellet rifle guns (which to me, look very real) and those kids shoot them around on the playground and at stop signs (as far as I know, they haven't hurt anyone or any animal). Overall, they are making the neighbors nervous and therefore the neighbors keep calling me about it. These kids (with the rifles) are the same kids that we believe have caused the vandalism in the common areas too. We have talked with their folks, given them notices, and pointed them out in the newsletters (not by name). However, they are still making neighbors nervous and the neighbors want to know if they should be calling the police for these sorts of things. What is the best protocol for this?
A-
The best procedure is for someone to call 911 and let us check it out. In my opinion, allowing an underage person to just walk around in a neighborhood shooting a pellet gun at anything they like is not only very irresponsible but also very dangerous obviously. What if they shoot at some object, miss and hit someone in the eye? If they want to responsibly shoot their pellet gun on their own property at targets with a proper backstop to prevent the pellet from going elsewhere then OK, that’s between them and their parents. But to shoot at something they don't own is most likely Criminal Trespass or Criminal Damage to Property and they can get in real trouble for that, especially if they are shooting stop signs or street lights.
If nothing else, we may want their information so we can come out and talk with them and their parents about the dangers of this practice and the possible criminal and civil liabilities BEFORE some innocent bystander gets an eye put out.
Understand, it is unlawful for anyone to discharge any weapon, including a BB gun, in a reckless manner or into or over property belonging to another person without first obtaining written permission from that person. Below is the Cobb County Ordinance covering this;
Sec. 86-5. Weapons discharge.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge a firearm, air rifle, pellet gun, slingshot, crossbow or other similar device into or over property belonging to another person or entity without first obtaining written permission from that person or entity.
There are state criminal statutes that could be imposed as well.
Current crime trends-
On 12/01/09, an East Cobb resident reported an allegation of fraud involving a contractor, whom they identified as Pinnacle Roofing Inc., (Terry Kiefer, owner). An initial inquiry into this matter by a member of our Criminal Investigations Unit has revealed numerous associated claims which occurred within the City of Alpharetta and elsewhere within the Metro Atlanta Area.
If you have any information, or have had any dealings with the above mentioned company, we are asking that you contact the Cobb County Police Department. An initial report will be filed on your behalf by our department. The incident will then be forwarded onto the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs, who will be responsible for the follow-up investigation.
Incidents of theft of mail have been reported from all over the precinct. Thieves are taking Christmas cards out of mail boxes and opening them looking for cash or gift cards.
The annual destruction of Christmas yard decorations is in full swing.
Recent arrests;
Business Burglary arrest-
On 12/22/09 at 0655 hours, Officer M. Justice responded to a silent alarm at the Nationwide Mortgage Company at 1155 Roberts Blvd. Upon arrival, he viewed a blue Neon parked outside. He checked the tag and discovered the vehicle to be stolen. He posted at the rear corner of the building awaiting backup and viewed the suspect exiting a rear door carrying a blue crowbar and wearing gloves. He arrested the suspect and discovered a laptop, a computer monitor and a flat screen TV inside the vehicle. Investigation revealed the suspect entered the business by unknown means, either through an unlocked door or by defeating a magnetic lock, and went from office to office taking said items. The suspect is being investigated for other burglaries in Precinct 4, and by detectives from McDonough, Henry, Clayton and Hampton Counties for smash and grabs at cleaners and daycares. Inside the suspect’s vehicle were a Samsung computer monitor, an Insignia DVD player, Dell computer speakers, a Toshiba laptop and a Garmin Nuvi GPS.
Loitering and Prowling arrest-
121409 1213 hrs- Suwannee Way (Bentley Ridge Condos) Officer Gardner responded to a call concerning a black male looking into windows in the complex. Upon arrival he made contact with a Marietta PD unit who was out with the suspect. After a consent to search a backpack, burglary tools, a Stanley pry bar, a My Book hard drive, a remote for an LG TV and pawn tickets were located. Subject was arrested and charged with Loitering and Prowling. Follow up investigation and interviews by CIU 4 Detective Clere and CIU 3 Detective S Nolan revealed the subject to be the suspect of a burglary this date in Pct 3.