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Thieves steal wheels off vehicles at Ginn, Covington Ford
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Two Covington auto dealerships were robbed overnight Saturday with thieves making off with truck wheels and tires.

According to reports, the wheels off four vehicles at Ginn Dodge, and wheels off another at Covington Ford were taken.

Covington Police arrived at Covington Ford, on the Bypass Road, after a call came in around 8:48 a.m. by a man looking to purchase a new vehicle. According to reports, he noticed a white Chevrolet Tahoe without tires and wheels sitting on blocks.

The dealership manager came in around 11 a.m. and viewed the tape with police. The tape revealed subjects entering the parking lot from the northwest side around 2:35 a.m. driving an “older black Dodge Concord or Intrepid.”

“They took approximately 12 minutes to take the tires off the Tahoe,” the report sad. “They put three tires in the back seat and one in the trunk.”

According to reports, the subjects, three large males, left at 2:47, and did not appear to be in a hurry.

Around 8:36 the same morning, CPD responded to Ginn Dodge, on Hwy 278, to a complainant saying he was looking at the used car lot and noticed several cars with no wheels on them.

CPD saw a white GMC Denali, blue Chevrolet Tahoe, black Dodge Ram and brown Ford F-150 without wheels. According to reports all vehicles were sitting on the ground, except the black Dodge Ram, which was on four paver stones.

According to reports the lug nuts were still on the scene and in the area of the vehicles.

Store personnel told the CPD officer there were no cameras that looked at the area involved.

Capt. Craig Treadwell said CPD has stepped up patrol in area car lots since the robberies took place.

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.