An alert neighbor's call helped deputies arrest two suspects for a burglary in progress on Thursday afternoon.
Just before 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 11, 2013, a neighbor noticed a suspicious vehicle at their neighbor's house located at 1301 Stone Bridge Court just off Klondike Road. The alert neighbor immediately call 9-1-1 and provided a vehicle description and detailed descriptions of the two suspects that were breaking into the neighbor's house.
Within minutes, the first responding deputy got into a foot chase with the two suspects as they were leaving the victim's house, while other deputies were able to swarm the area. One of the suspects made it back to their vehicle, but another responding deputy spotted the vehicle and briefly chased it through the Bridgewater Place subdivision until the suspect drove into a cul-de-sac. That suspect then jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the woods on foot heading towards Hurst Road.
Initial responding deputies set up a perimeter along Klondike Road near the burglary location and the first suspect was in custody at 2:20 p.m. A second perimeter was set up along Hurst Road where the second suspect was running towards after abandoning their vehicle. Deputies along Hurst Road spread out and searched the wooded area for the second suspect. That suspect was eventually pushed out of the woods and spotted walking in the Bridgewater Place subdivision just before 4 PM, coincidentally by the deputy that originally gave chase to the suspect vehicle.
"This was a great effort by deputies to quickly respond and surround the area to prevent the suspects from getting away," said Sheriff Eric Levett. "I encourage any Rockdale County resident that sees something suspicious to call us to check it out. When alert neighbors and deputies work together, we can apprehend suspects that think that it is okay to commit a crime in our county."
The first suspect apprehended was a 15-year-old male juvenile. He is facing charges of Burglary and Willful Obstruction of Law Enforcement Officers, and is currently being held in the Gwinnett Regional Youth Detention Center.
The second suspect arrested is John Hughley, 20, of Lithonia. Hughley is charged with Burglary, Fleeing/Attempting to Elude a Police Officer, and Willful Obstruction of Law Enforcement Officers. He is currently in the Rockdale County Jail without bond.
