Three People Arrested In String Of Burglaries In Forsyth and Dawson Counties

The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office announced Friday morning the arrests of North Forsyth residents William Handley Jr., 24, Sarah Whittington, 22, and Samuel Reagan, 25. The ring of thieves were arrested as the result of a several week long investigation.

Following a series of residential burglaries committed in North and South Forsyth County, and at least one in Dawson County, investigators from the Sheriff's Office developed information that Handley and two others were largely responsible for the crime spree.

"We identified a gentleman named William Handley Jr. as part of this ring," said Investigator Martin White. "His job in this ring was to get rid of the (stolen) property.

According to White, the other two suspects, Sarah Whittington and Samuel Reagan, were allegedly committing the burglaries.

Authorities arrested Handley on April 29 and charged him with 14 counts of theft by receiving, with possibly more charges pending. Wittenington and Reagan were arrested on May 2, and each have been charged with six counts of burglary. All three remain in custody at the Forsyth County Detention Center and no bond has been set.

Two additional people were arrested during the investigation, including Heather Thomas, the girlfriend of one of the individuals.

White said, "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time," and charged with theft by receiving.

During the execution of the second search warrant, authorities arrested William Handley Sr. following the discovery of 90 marijuana plants growing outside the residence. The plants were confiscated and he was charged with manufacturing marijuana. Handley Sr. posted a $12,265 bond on May 3.

Investigators recovered about $20,000 of the $50,000 in stolen property and said small electronics and firearms were the main focus of the thieves.

The stolen items included laptops, gaming systems, X-box consoles, Playstations, hand-held video games and an assortment of at least 20 firearms (rifles, shotguns and handguns).

Investigator White said they were able to recover 12 firearms, and return seven back to the owners.

The Sheriff's Office would like to return all of the recovered property back to its rightful owners. Victims of a burglary who have not recovered their property will be given the opportunity to do so.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, May 17 and 18, from 2 p.m. - 7 p.m., individuals will have a chance to claim their stolen property. The recovered items will be displayed in the conference room at the North Precinct in Central Park located at 2310 Keith Bridge Road.

"We're going to put all this property out, in the conference room, and let people come look at it with the investigators there," said Major Dan Jagoe. "If they can identify and they feel confident that it is their property, we'll make arrangements to get it back to them."

It is strongly suggested that you bring proof of ownership, like receipts, serial numbers, photographs or the case number if a burglary report was filed.

"Our intent is to get this property back to the rightful owner, however, the only way we can do that is if they can show some type of ownership," said White.

"Investigator White did an outstanding job in identifying the suspects," said Sgt. Scott Wilson of the Criminal Investigations Division. "It's very rare we have a recovery of this magnitude, that we get this much property back to people. Our main goal is to get the property back when we investigate these things."

The Sheriff's Office suggests residents make an inventory of their personal belongings by documenting serial numbers, taking photographs and keeping receipts of items purchased in a safe and secure place.

"If something does come up stolen and it's entered as stolen on the national computer and if somebody pawns it or does something with it--then we can be alerted to that," said Sgt. Wilson. "It helps us out tremendously."

For more information on the stolen items recovered in these string of burglaries, send an e-mail to Investigator Martin White or call 770-886-2800 ext. 3327.