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Pickens Sheriff Research Paper

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Like Hoarders mixed with Cops, sheriff’s officers last week hauled more than 1,000 items believed to be stolen, ranging from vehicles to GI Joe dolls, from a wooded Reavis Road home. Lt. Chris Webb of the Pickens Sheriff’s office said if someone had anything stolen in the past decade, there’s a chance it’s now at the jail overflowing the criminal investigation division conference room and in two covered trailers out back. Detectives say the massive cache of items were stolen from Pickens and surrounding counties and then either traded to homeowner Tony Elbert Merrell, 45, for drugs or he paid for them, knowing they were stolen. “We believe everybody took whatever to him and he either paid them cash for it or traded them drugs,” Webb said. …show more content…

A third arrest is likely coming soon, say investigators. Webb said Pickens Sheriff’s officers and Drug Task Force agents received information earlier this month that Merrell was selling both methamphetamine and pills and also operating a chop shop from his home on Reavis Road in Ball Ground. With a criminal history dating back to 1990, Webb said they used more than 20 officers from the sheriff’s office and Drug Task Force to make the arrest, finding the suspect putting in a basement for a new house on a Bobcat. He was armed with a shotgun and had two pistols and the pills in his pockets. He was arrested without incident with one team of officers getting him in surveillance from the woods, while other officers arrived at the front of the house, Webb said. Webb said information given to them indicated he would be armed and that as many as six other individuals regularly stayed around that house. The detective said they realized quickly they had uncovered what is likely the largest cache of stolen items in the history of this county. He estimated that more than 1,000 stolen items were recovered last week from the home and woods around it, though the dollar value is likely not that great for the numerous odds and

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