Crime & Safety

Weird Police Stories: Crime Fails, Marital Problems and Stolen Water

Strange crime stories in Northeast Georgia, as reported on local Patch sites.

Click on the links below for more details.

1. A Snellville man interrupted a break in a church service, snatched up his estranged wife and sped off with her in his vehicle. “He won’t let me go,” the woman mouthed to people in the parking lot as the man forced her to leave with him. He was later found at his father’s house and was arrested.

2. A Lilburn homeowner told police he was upset about his escalating water bills that he chose another route to fill his pool. He attached a green garden hose to a fire hydrant nearby and ran it back to the pool. He had two feet of water in the pool before police arrived. In case you don’t know, it’s against the law to do this.

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3. Somebody tried to steal an ATM machine located inside a Norcross-area CVS pharmacy by yanking it out with a cable attached to a stolen van. The attempt was unsuccessful, however. The suspect, or suspects, only pulled out the ATM sign; it wasn’t part of the actual machine. The sign was attached to the still-running van when police found it later.

4. You can understand why the police were a bit miffed at this one. Lilburn Police said a woman made up a story about an attempted kidnapping of a child from a Lilburn store. Her reason? Because, according to police, she was angry that the child's parents weren't watching him while they were shopping. At that time, she told police she had seen a man try to kidnap the boy. She later admitted she lied.

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"This is a serious offense," a police spokesman said. "The department spent several man hours trying to locate this suspect. The department takes these types of reports extremely serious and when this was initially reported other investigations were dropped to focus on this one."

5. A suspected would-be robber intended to stick up a Johns Creek Panera while an employee was working alone one early morning. The suspect became enraged when the employee refused to let him in and With that, the suspect punched the glass door, shattering it, then ran away.

6. Police say an Athens man intended to steal a bottle of laundry detergent, then return it as if he had purchased it. He’s done it before, employees at a Family Dollar store told police. He’s been barred from the store for two years.

7. Someone stole 15 pots intended for a yard sale from an Athens carport, but the victim noticed something else was missing. She told police the suspects had stolen a green mushroom growing in her front lawn.

8. A Winder man told police that we wasn’t burglarizing a vacant residence. He said he was interested in renting the place, so he was just doing some work there. Neighbors who called police suspected he was attempting to steal copper from where the water heater was located. The suspect said he thought he could stay there until making a decision. That isn’t how the leasing process works, an officer told him.

9. Well, at least the thief waited until a Lilburn man was finished mowing the lawn before stealing his $700 lawn mower. When the man finished, he took a break inside his house, leaving the mower in the yard. .

10. How do you think the son felt when he saw this off-the-court altercation during his basketball tryout at Dacula High School? The tryout was attended by the boy’s father, his girlfriend and his soon-to-be ex-wife. According to the police report, after the estranged wife approached the girlfriend to question why she was there, she punched the woman in the face and dragged her to the ground by her hair. The man told police he separated the women and his wife then left the school.


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