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.