Neighboring Green's Mill Hit With Car Break-Ins

Rash of car break-ins hits Walton County

By Robbie Schwartz, The Walton Tribune

Sheriff's office officials are asking residents to be more diligent in locking their car doors at night after a rash of car break-ins over the past week. From July 20 to 27, Walton County Sheriff's Office investigators worked 22 cases where a car was broken into in front of a residence. Only six other incidents have been reported for the weeks prior. Over the week a majority of the crimes took place in subdivisions - nine alone in the Eagle's Nest subdivision, with Green's Mill and Rolling Hills joining the fray as the hardest hit during the recent crime wave. In each incident, the car was unlocked. "It's a simple process of pushing a button to lock a car that can prevent a whole bunch of problems if people would just take the time," Sheriff Joe Chapman said.

In 2009, WCSO investigators have worked 108 cases of entering autos. Officials said a clear majority of them were instances where the car was unlocked in front of the residence or in an open garage. Purses, wallets, cell phones, iPods and laptops are among the items stolen from the unlocked cars. One car was stolen earlier this month after the keys were left in the vehicle. It was later recovered. Officials said the suspects are breaking into the cars in the early morning hours, between midnight and 4 a.m. WCSO investigators are following up leads, as the suspects have been caught on surveillance cameras using the credit and debit cards stolen from the vehicles. Many of the cards have been used in the Atlanta area. Officials believe there are four to five male suspects, according to witness accounts and from surveillance tapes. One of the surveillance tapes has been uploaded on the sheriff's office Web site.

Visit www.walton countyga.org/sheriff and click on the "Crime Tube" link. The video is of two suspects using a stolen debit card at an Atlanta convenience store. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the sheriff's office at 770-267-6557 or to submit information anonymously through the Web site.

Let's Get Together

Neighborhood Watch Meeting

Who: La Fayette Ridge neighbors

When: Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 3 p.m.

Where: The Patty’s Pad – 1502 La Fayette Place

Why: Let’s get together for a brief meeting to talk about the recent incidences in our neighborhood. Please bring ideas and suggestions to help us keep our neighborhood safe and a great place to live!

"You've got to stand for something, or you'll fall for anything." - Aaron Tippin

Entrance Lights Must Be Replaced

After the first set of vandals struck LaFayette Ridge, it was discovered that they did more damage than previously believed. The front entrance lights (shining on the neighborhood signs) were completely destroyed. Paul has since removed the two flood lights and will purchase new ones to replace the lights in the near future. An electrician may be needed to rewire the lights.

Another LaFayette Ridge "Incident"

Another incident took place Thursday night in LaFayette Ridge.

Here's the low-down from Dexter, "there was an incident with teenagers in the neighborhood last night. There were a group of teenagers who were doing some pranks on their friends in Barrington and decided to include our neighborhood. There were 6 teenage boys. One of the boy’s mother was the “getaway driver.” Chester was barking at something, so we checked it out. Janet saw the boys in the street and yelled at them. Then I asked them where did they live and they said down the street, which, of course, was not true. Anyway, I went after them in my truck and they ran and hid. I called the Sheriff Dept and asked them to send someone out. The deputies were able to stop the woman and the boys were rounded up. They had hid out behind the Bruner’s house. It turned out that we knew the woman (through band activities) and the boys. They had decided to include us in their pranks by toilet papering our yard because they thought we would find it funny. Luckily we caught them before they did. I could have press charges but did not. I told the mother that what she did was stupid. We called the boys’ parents and they picked them up. The husband came to make sure his wife went home as well."

Entrance Street Light Working Again

The large street light at our subdivision entrance is now working.

LaFayette Ridge's Joe Wozniak called Walton EMC and had them fix the light on the pole. Joe said they also asked them to fix the lights that were out on Johnson Rd. They are now working towards getting them to put a street light at Johnson and McCullers Roads because it is really dark there at night.

Thanks Joe!

LaFayette Ridge Vandalized

Update: 5 homes were vandalized in LaFayette Ridge, along with the entrance lights. Also, the Walton County Sheriff's Dept. believes that they know who the vandals are. They'll need to "catch them in the act" before they can do anything though. The hoodlums are believed to reside in Barrington Manor.

LaFayette Ridge neighbors should remain on alert after Tim and Kimberley Chandler's yard decorations were vandalized Monday night.

According to Kimberley, "Our neighborhood was vandalized last night and Tim called the Walton County Sheriff this morning. He said there was lots of vandalism going on and we need to keep our eyes open. Our house had all the wooden and concrete benches turned over, statues tossed, one concrete statue broken, and our welcome sign tossed."

Two yard decorations ended up in the Myers' and Kidd's yards.

If you notice anything in your yard, call the Sheriff's department at 770-267-6557. Let's keep our eyes peeled for these vandals and contact the police immediately if you see anything suspicious.

To request a patrol of your home or neighborhood, call 770-267-1406. Perhaps if we all ask for stepped-up patrols of LaFayette Ridge, they'll respond.

LaFayette Ridge Gets Buckets of Rain

LaFayette Ridge received nearly 3 inches of rainfall Sunday night. The storm came through around 7 p.m. and lasted for over two hours, resulting in the large amount of water in our rain gauges. What a welcome sight.

The blogger's rain gauge measured 2.75 inches!

Juan and Julio At It Again

LaFayette Ridge's do-it-yourself-experts, Juan and Julio (aka Alvin and John) were at it again today helping Ms. Emma. The dynamic duo cut down some dead and dying trees in Emma's back yard. Again, their help, generosity and kindness is so greatly appreciated!

And. . . Joe offered this helpful information should anyone need a stump grinding service:
Joe said they rented a hydraulic stump grinder from S & P Tool Rentals, located at 250 Grayson Highway in Lawrenceville. The cost was $195.00 for 24 hours. It comes on a trailer and it is self propelled. All you have to do is pull a handle and the hydraulics takes care of everything.

Thanks for the tip, Joe.

Happy Birthday John!

LaFayette Ridge's resident handyman, military buff and overall sweetheart - John Sharp - is celebrating his 75th birthday today. John celebrated with a lunch with family and friends.

Happy Birthday John! Thanks for all you do.

New Meters Installed in LaFayette Ridge

Walton EMC installed new digital meters on Friday, July 10th. The meters use a digital meter to send meter reading data over power lines, eliminating the need to read meters manually.

More information on the new meters is located here: http://www.waltonemc.com/energysolutions/index.php?page=amrfaq

Loganville's New Fire Station Opens

Taken from the Loganville Tribune

Loganville opens first Gwinnett fire station

LOGANVILLE — It was almost 10 years in the making, but finally July 2nd was the official grand opening of Fire Station No. 3, the first fire station on the Gwinnett County side of the city. “This will greatly increase our services and response time to this side of the city,” said Loganville Mayor Ray Nunley before thanking all those involved in the process.

Rick Morris said the station was already in operation with three people manning it — one battalion chief and two firefighters on the engine. “Although our response time to this part of the area was always good, the distance exceeded that required by our insurers for a certain rate and this now puts us within their requirements,” Morris said.

The $800,000 building was paid for by funds form the Gwinnett County Special Local Option Sales Tax, with $750,000 going toward the building cost and the balance of $50,000 toward furniture and fittings. An additional $395,000, also from a Gwinnett County SPLOST fund, was used to purchase and equip the new fire truck.

Local Fireworks Display a Real Treat

The Oasis Church put on a wonderful fireworks display to celebrate the 4th of July! Festivities included a car show, music, fun for the kids and the professional fireworks show.

Hope you had a great Independence Day!