A Visit From the Sheriff's Department Sends a Message

The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department visited the Cherry Mountain Fire Department on February 1, 2013. Lieutenant Kelly Aldridge, Detectives Brandon Rothrock, Jimmy Upton, and Ronnie Bailey met with about a dozen concerned citizens from Sunshine and Golden Valley.



Lieutenant Aldridge addresses the group.

 What was the trouble? The trouble started when 4 homes in South Mountain Peaks were broken into. This was followed by several area break ins and then Golden Valley Estates had 8 homes hit in the same week. Yellowtop reports 5 and the Summit, so far has been lucky. So has The Ridge at South Mountain, reporting only one house broken into and that happened when it was under construction.
As times get tougher, thieves look for easy opportunities and unoccupied mountain homes have become a favorite target. And it was easy, easy until heightened security measures were put into place by the home owners associations such as: stricter gate security, neighborhood watches, and surveillance with live camera feeds at different spots in the communities. Homeowners tightened up too, several have added gates to their drives, installed monitored security systems and cameras as well.

And all this is well and good, but there are still some measures that may be taken by homeowners. This one’s easy, get the serial numbers off high end electronics, write them down and put them where you can find them. Never leave expensive jewelry or weapons in a vacation cabin, just don’t do it. Set up a camera with a high speed internet feed and a battery back up, it’s pretty inexpensive these days with pretty good cameras costing as little as $89.00. Pay attention in the community, if you see a vehicle that looks out of place assume it shouldn’t be there. Get the tag number, the make and model - can’t see that – look closely. Is there a dent in the door, is there a sticker on the bumper, the back windshield, what color is it, what do the passengers look like? If you have your cell phone handy, take a picture. But be safe. If you’re uncomfortable phoning the police, you don’t want to bother them with something you think you saw, email the information to them instead. It may lead to a crime being solved.
Lieutenant Aldrich was happy to inform the group that an arrest has been made. The suspect was in possession of stolen property in connection with at least one of the Yellowtop break-ins. They expect to tie him into several others. You can find out more about arrests, by following police reports online: Media Releases and for more information about the department, including email addresses, visit the Sheriff’s Department Detective Division online.