Tag number leads to burglary arrests

Local News

Discussion

July 30, 2010

Staff Reports The Moultrie Observer

MOULTRIE — A property owner who got a tag number after seeing trespassers on his property Sunday helped nab two women accused of later burglarizing the house.

The Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office is seeking a third person charged in the Tuesday burglary of a house in the 6597 block of Georgia Highway 37 West, Hartsfield.

A window air conditioner and mahogany lamp stand were taken in the burglary.

Property owner Denny Sellers, of the 100 block of Dalton Gay Road, saw people in the back yard of the Highway 37 house on Sunday while on his way to church and told them to leave, sheriff’s reports said. At that time he got the tag number of a pickup truck.

On Tuesday when he discovered the theft, Sellers gave the tag number to law enforcement.

“Yesterday (an officer) spotted one of the suspects and stopped the vehicle at 1413 Hutchinson Drive,” sheriff’s investigator Jason Thompson said. “Mr. Sellers’ air conditioner was on the porch of the back building.”

Investigators have charged Stephanie Miller, 34, 1413 Hutchinson Drive, and Linda Landrum, 47, 522 Indian Lake Drive with burglary. Christie Hobgood, 34, also has been charged with burglary in the case but had not been taken into custody as of Thursday afternoon.

Thompson said that more burglaries could be solved if residents would keep an eye out for suspicious activity.

“We need people to look out for their neighbors,” he said. “They don’t have to put themselves in danger, just a tag number would help us.”

If people see suspicious vehicles, or see someone at a neighbor’s residence at a time they are at work, they should note the vehicle and occupants’ description and get a tag number if possible, Thompson said.

“That would just help us if people would call (about) anything out of the norm,” he said.

It is also helpful both in making arrests and recovering property if owners write down serial numbers, especially for firearms and electronics, he said.