Six people charged with Home Depot thefts

DAHLONEGA - Within the last two weeks, investigators from the Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office and Dawson County Sheriff's Office have charged a total of six Dawson County residents in connection with recent copper wire thefts from the Dahlonega and Dawsonville Home Depots.

The investigation began on August 21, 2007 when investigators from the Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office received information that two possible suspects in a copper wire shoplifting case from the Dawson County Home Depot were staying at a home on Yahoola Rd. Lumpkin County investigators responded to the location where they located the two suspects. Dawson County investigators responded to Yahoola Rd and both suspects were taken into custody, Samantha Renee Deal,20, and Richard Deal 22. Both were charged in connection with the Dawson County thefts.

On August 29, 2007 investigators from Dawson County returned the favor when deputies responded to an incident of copper wire theft from the Home Depot in Dahlonega. The suspect vehicle was located in Dawson County be a Dawson County investigator. After gathering evidence from the scene investigators from Lumpkin County responded to the suspect's location in Dawson County. After further investigation William Swofford ,34, and Stacy Swofford 35, both of Dawsonville, were arrested and charged with the August 29, 2007 copper wire theft from Dahlonega's Home Depot. Two additional suspects, Anthony Scott Barker, 24, and Valerie Estes ,23, of Dawsonville were also charged in connection with the August 29 theft in Dahlonega.

Upon further investigation Lumpkin County investigators were able to charge William Swofford with a previously unsolved July 31, 2007 Dahlonega Home Depot copper wire theft. Dawson County investigators are now comparing surveillance video from previous copper wire thefts from their Home Depot and additional charges for Swofford are possible.

The copper wire has yet to be recovered and investigators believe the suspects have been quickly taking the copper wire to nearby recycling centers.

According to Captain Jason Stover, Lumpkin County Criminal Investigation Commander, "This is just an example of the current dynamics of criminal investigations. We are constantly working with and sharing information with other law enforcement agencies in an attempt to prevent crime and solve cases."