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Burglars hit homes across the county
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For some Newton County residents, the term Christmas shopping may have a new meaning, now that criminals have used their homes as a source for free items. Deputies in the Newton County Sheriff's Office are investigating a recent string of home burglaries across the county. While residents are away, criminals have hit, taking everything from cell phones to ATVs.

A Covington woman reported Dec. 8 a break-in at a home she was taking care of while the owner was away. The thieves made off with a revolver and two semi-automatic handguns.

According to the incident report, when the woman checked on the house around 9 p.m. Dec. 8, she realized someone had pried open the back door. After checking out the home, she discovered downstairs that a security bar had been broken off the cabinet where the guns were kept and the guns were missing.

The weapons are a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun, a .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun and a .357 revolver handgun. Nothing else in the house was reported missing.

Also on Dec. 8, a Conyers man reported that on Dec. 6, his back door had been kicked in and two cell phones and a laptop computer had been stolen.

According to the incident report, the cell phones are valued at $50 each and the Compaq laptop is valued at $400.There are no witnesses in the case.

On Dec. 7, A Covington woman reported a TV/DVD combo unit, a DVD player and a BB gun has been stolen from her Newton County home.

According to the incident report, between 6 p.m. Dec. 6 and 9:15 a.m. Dec. 7, someone broke into her home and made away with the items.

The TV/DVD player is valued at $289, the DVD player is valued at $200 and the BB gun is valued at $75. There are no witnesses in the case.

On Dec. 6, a Covington man reported that his 2003 Yamaha ATV had been swiped from his property.

The criminals broke the lock on an out building where he kept the ATV and a John Deere riding lawn mover.

The owner noticed the ATV had been stolen when he found the lawn mower sitting outside of the building. Nothing else had been reported missing.


April 3 crash kills two young adults, injures third
Newton County Sheriff Car---WEB

NEWTON COUNTY — Around 10 a.m. on Thursday, a head-on collision on Highway 212 left two young adults dead and a third hospitalized.

Joe Navarro, 21, was driving the vehicle and Breanna Smith, 18, was in the passenger seat. Katie New, 20, sat between them.

According to the Newton County Sheriff’s Office, the vehicle lost control while going around a curve and crossed the centerline, where it collided head-on with a box truck. The crash report shows that their vehicle traveled another hundred feet after impact before coming to a stop. It spun, ended up facing the opposite direction on the shoulder of the opposite lane.

Navarro and Smith were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. New was airlifted to Grady Hospital. Her current condition is not known. 

Navarro, Smith and New were not believed to be wearing seatbelts when the collision occurred.

The driver of the box truck was not reported to have suffered any injuries.

This is an ongoing story. The News will post updates as they are made available.