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Crime & Safety

Crime Report: Stalking, Shoplifting and a Stolen Tax Refund

The following information was gathered from Oconee County Sheriff's Office reports and highlights incidents reported Aug. 3- 5.

Would-be shoplifter attempts to wheel out cart: On Aug. 5 around 3:30 p.m., a deputy responded to where an employee said three individuals had placed kids and adult clothes, valued at over $1,600, into a shopping cart.  Two of them left the store and the third person attempted to push the cart through the exit without paying for the items.  The man left the shopping cart in the parking lot when confronted by a loss prevention employee and ran toward Epps Bridge Parkway, hopped into a vehicle and left the scene.

Attempted theft of lawn mower: A manager of reported on Aug. 5 around 7 a.m. that two men attempted take a new John Deere lawn mower that they had removed from behind a fenced area of the garden center.  When the men saw the manager, she says they ran to a nearby truck and drove away. A deputy noted the fence had been cut in order for the tractor to be removed.

Circuit breakers concealed: Deputies arrested a and charged him with shoplifting on Aug. 4 after a loss prevention employee at said the man tried to conceal $181 worth of circuit breakers and leave the store without paying.

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Stalking arrest: Deputies pulled over the driver of a blue Dodge Durange on Robin Road, the suspect of a reported stalking incident, around 9:40 a.m. on Aug. 4.  The Milledgeville man told the deputy he had recently broken his ex-girlfriend's car window, called and texted her and watched her home because he wanted to talk with her and she wouldn't speak with him, according to the deputy's report.  The on a charge of stalking. One day before the arrest, the victim had filed a report of harassment.

Military member's tax refund stolen: The mother of a man currently undergoing military training reported on Aug. 3 that someone had stolen her son's tax refund check.  She told deputies she has power of attorney to conduct financial matters on behalf of her son and that she filed his 2011 tax return for him.  Recently the mother contacted the IRS and learned a check had been sent and cashed.

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Gas cards stolen: A resident of the 1000 block of Keeneland Court reported someone entered his unlocked vehicle and removed three gas cards sometime between midnight on Aug. 2 and midnight on Aug. 3.

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