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Officers seize millions of dollars of auto parts in Elbert County chop shop raid

Posted 10:15AM on Tuesday 16th April 2019 ( 4 years ago )

An Athens man faces numerous charges after being arrested for owning and operating a chop shop operation in Elbert County.

Craig Frank Adams, 38, of Athens was arrested Wednesday, April 10, following a joint operation by the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Department of Insurance Fraud Unit, Georgia Department of Corrections, Comer Police Department, Oglethorpe County Sheriff’s Office, Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, and National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Adams is charged with 19 counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; and also is charged with one count each of felony probation violation, theft by receiving stolen property, and owning, operating or conducting a chop shop.

The alleged chop shop operation is located on a 15-acre site on Plantation Road, where officers discovered hundreds of disassembled vehicles, including trucks, buses, and heavy equipment, and thousands of diesel auto parts valued at several million dollars, according to Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner Jim Beck.

This is not Adams’ first arrest related to chop shop operation, according to Elbert County officials.

As a result of a previous guilty plea on charges related to a chop shop, including a condition he was to have no involvement in the sale of auto parts, all property on the Plantation Road site was seized by officers at the time of the arrest raid. As is standard in such cases, an asset forfeiture hearing will be held.

The firearms charges stem from a property on Thirteen Forks Road, where officers report finding numerous stolen items connected to Adams.

Adams turned himself in to Athens-Clarke County officers Wednesday night and was booked in at the Elbert County Detention Center.

Craig Frank Adams

http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/4/785739/officers-seize-millions-of-dollars-of-auto-parts-in-elbert-county-chop-shop-raid

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