Gun, 70 Pairs of Ladies Under Garments Stolen in Separate Thefts

Sections of this report are provided by the Cumming Police Department, the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office and/or the Forsyth County Fire Department.

The Cumming Crime Corner and Fire is a public service to the community and is not a complete listing of all crime and fire activity.

BRIEF SCHOOL LOCKDOWN DURING SEARCH FOR THEFT SUSPECT

March 16, two Cumming elementary schools were in lockdown mode while authorities searched for a 53-year-old male who allegedly stole a wallet out of a vehicle parked at Creekside United Methodist Church on Peachtree Parkway.

"A potentially dangerous situation existed near two of our school campuses, so the district initiated a lockdown to ensure the safety of students and staff," said Jennifer Caracciolo, spokesperson for Forsyth County Schools, in an e-mail to Cumming Patch. "The two schools impacted, Big Creek Elementary and Brookwood Elementary, were under lockdown in their classrooms for 10 to 20 minutes. Both staffs did a tremendous job in implementing and following this procedure, allowing minimal interruption to instruction."

Forsyth County deputies apprehended the suspect in a field behind the Patriot Bank also located on Peachtree Parkway. The suspect was brought back to the church, where witnesses identified the male as the person who broke into the vehicle and removed the wallet. He was later turned over to authorities at the Forsyth County Jail.

MAIL FOUND IN STORM SEWER

March 14, Forsyth County Road and Bridge Department called in a report of recovery. The deputy learned that one of the road workers, while clearing out a storm sewer, had discovered 12 pieces of first class mail that consisted of credit card statements, household bills and bank statements, along with 42 pieces of junk mail.

All of this mail was bundled together, unopened and apparently came from a particular delivery zone. This delivery area covered Bagley Road, Hemrick Road, Peachtree Parkway and Mathis Airport Parkway. The deputy took the mail to the authorities at the U.S. Postal facility for investigation.

DIESEL FUEL STOLEN FROM THE WATER AND SEWER DEPARTMENT

March 14, a deputy was dispatched to County Way where the is located in reference to a theft.

An employee told deputies that sometime between Friday, March 11 and Monday, March 14 someone had entered the gated parking lot and had removed approximately 46 gallons of diesel fuel from a diesel storage tank located in one of the county trucks.  An investigation is underway.

FRAUD SUSPECT CAUGHT WHILE BUYING GROCERIES

March 12, after being called to the on Freedom Parkway, deputies arrested a 37-year-old male who allegedly dropped off two prescriptions that the pharmacist verified were fraudulent and called the police.

Upon arrival the pharmacist gave a description of the male and the officers found him standing in line to pay for groceries. He is being charged with three felony charges; Obtain Drugs by Fraud or Forgery, Fraud and Possession of Tools for the Commission of a Crime.

CALLERS POSING AS FAMILY MEMBERS NEEDING HELP

March 12, deputies responded to a fraud that occurred over the telephone. The victims stated that someone posing as their grandson had called from Canada and said he was in an accident while attending a friend’s wedding, was in jail and had been charged with DUI.

The caller continued to explain that he needed $3000 to be sent to him to get him out of jail. The victims wired the money via Western Union to a female in Spain. The victims thought this was strange, but the caller (supposedly their grandson) said it was because the money needed to be converted into Euros before being sent to Canada.

The same male called again to say that he needed an additional $2600 to pay for the damages the accident caused, before he could be released from jail. The victims again wired the money.

Several days later, still concerned with their "alleged" grandson, they called him to discover that he had not been in Canada and had not made these phone calls. This fraud is under investigation.     

GUN STOLEN FROM PACKAGE STORE

March 12, a deputy met with the owner of Lake Pointe Package in response to the theft of a black .40 caliber 9000S Beretta handgun with the serial number of SN024394. The owner stated that the gun was kept in his office and he noticed it was missing and then called the police. Any information please contact the .

70 PAIRS OF PANTIES STOLEN

March 10, the manager of at Peachtree Parkway called the Sheriff’s Office to report that approximately 70 pairs of panties had been stolen.

The manager told the deputies that a black female had been in the area of these garments and had been acting suspicious. The surveillance tapes are being reviewed and the theft is under investigation. The approximate value of the stolen items was $800.

FIRE

The responded to 196 calls for the week of March 7 – March 14. Of these calls, two were structure fires with no injuries, one vehicle fire, two down power lines, 123 medical emergencies, 25 calls that were cancelled, 12 false alarms, six brush fires, three smoke scares, three unauthorized burning calls, two controlled burning calls and various other calls.

Captain Jason Shivers stated that with spring approaching their brush fire calls and burning calls always increase. For more information about outdoor burning visit www.forsythco.com.  There are several rules and regulations that you may not be aware of and the information on the Web site will spell out everything you need to know to be safe.  

For an updated list of Forsyth County's "Most Wanted" click here: Forsyth County Sheriff's Most Wanted.