Two charged by Gwinnett PD in large theft operation

LAWRENCEVILLE - Gwinnett County police say they have broken up a theft operation that targeted coils in exterior air conditioning units across the county, with nearly 100 known victims so far, including ten Buford area churches.

According to Cpl. Edwin Ritter, the investigation shows that between March 1 and April 30 of this year a total of 93 reports of air conditioning thefts were reported. Of these reports, 10 of them were churches in the Buford area.

Cpl. Ritter said "The investigation revealed that Timothy Henley used the assistance of Douglas Gittens and others to sell extremely large quantities of air conditioning coils to recycling centers in and around Gwinnett County. The recycled air conditioning coils and copper appeared to match thefts of commercial rooftop air conditioning units."

Further investigation showed that Timothy Henley was gaining access to shopping center rooftops and stripping the coils from these air conditioning units, Ritter added.

"These air conditioning units contain large quantities of the banned refrigerant Chlorodiflouromethane also known as â