Rickey Hutchins, 46, and Tonya Bundrant, 45, both of Snellville, were arrested March 25 after Newton County Sherriff's Deputies discovered them taking household fixtures and copper wire out of a vacant house on Ga. Highway 11, according to an NCSO incident report.
Bundrant, who was pulling copper wire from a cable wire, told Deputy James Stevens that her friend, Hutchins, said the house was being demolished and that they were getting some items to scrap.
Hutchins was found in the house holding a large bundle of wire.
A truck loaded with a ceiling fan, kitchen sink, light fixtures, and copper wire was in the driveway.
A realtor at Sunbelco Realty, which owned the house, said no one had been given permission to collect items from the property.
The truck was towed and two dogs inside the truck were turned over to the Newton County Animal Shelter.
Meat nabber
A Covington man was arrested and charged with theft by shoplifting after he attempted to take more than $160 worth of meat from the Ingles supermarket on Turner Lake Road and U.S. Highway 278 on the evening of March 20, according to the Covington Police Department public information log.
Tommy Warren, 36, dropped a shopping basket full of T-bone steaks, spare ribs, pork chops, lamb and tenderloin while fleeing to the parking lot when witnesses saw him try to leave the store without paying.
Warren, who reportedly yelled that "he was just trying to survive," tried to hide behind a truck and then entered the Five O'Clock Somewhere bar.
When Covington Police Officer Mitch Nicholson arrived at the scene, he found Warren in the bar. Warren ran into the bathroom upon seeing the officer and was arrested after resisting and trying to get away.
There were also three sirloin steaks found in the back of Warren's car, valued at $23.30.
Unhappy camper
A Covington woman was arrested after allegedly driving a 33-foot camper into a ditch on Ga. Highway 36 and Ga. Highway 212 around 10 p.m. on March 7, blocking the road, according to a Newton County Sheriff's Office incident report.
Laverna Mathis, 41, who was reportedly unable to stand without swaying and gave off a strong odor of alcohol, originally told deputies that another man had been driving and ran off with the keys.
Deputies arrested Mathis after finding a baggie of marijuana and a green bong with residue in the camper.
Mathis then said she had tried to drive the camper out of the ditch, but when a deputy asked her how she had done that if the man had run off with the keys, she admitted she had crashed the camper but didn't want her husband to know.
Mathis' sister arrived and said Mathis, who refused a blood alcohol test, had been drinking all day and took the camper.
Mathis was taken to the Newton County Detention Center and the camper was towed and released to her husband.
Taboo tatoo
A Conyers mother brought her daughter to the Newton County Sheriff's Office March 11 after discovering the 16-year-old had a tattoo on her hip.
The teen reportedly received the tattoo, a star with the name of "Joe," from another 16-year-old friend at the friend's home in Covington.
An investigator photographed the tattoo and interviewed the juvenile.
Under Georgia state statutes, it's a misdemeanor to tattoo anyone under the age of 18.
