Crime & Safety

News Nearby: Gang Members Found Guilty; KSU Frat Suspended

Top Patch headlines from around Cartersville, metro Atlanta and Georgia include distraction burglaries targeting the elderly and an arrest in a home invasion case.

Jack Boys Gang Members Found Guilty 

A Fulton County jury on Thursday returned guilty verdicts against three members of the local ‘Jack Boys’ gang, whose reign of terror included the rape of a Grant Park woman and the murder of a Virginia-Highland man.

Tamario Wise, the 19-year-old gang leader; Robert Veal, 18; and Fernandez Whatley, 21, faced a slew of crimes in a 90-count indictment. The defendants will be sentenced at a later date. See East Atlanta Patch for more on this story.

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Kennesaw State Suspends Fraternity for 2½ Years 

Kennesaw State University has suspended one of its fraternities for two and a half years after a student in September reported incidents of alleged hazing.

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According to a story in the KSU Sentinel, the university's newspaper, the alleged incidents of "servitude, alcohol consumption and sleep deprivation" involved the 37-member Kennesaw Chapter of Delta Chi International Fraternity, which has appealed the suspension.

All of the allegations, if true, are violations of the school's anti-hazing policy. See Kennesaw Patch for more on this story.

One Suspect Arrested in Cumming Home Invasion

One of the suspects involved in a home invasion earlier this week was apprehended Thursday in Forsyth County by authorities, according to Sgt.Bryan Zimbardi of the Cumming Police Department.

Shaeem McLaren was arrested and charged with armed robbery and is currently being held at the Forsyth County Detention Center.

Three suspects, described as black men, forcibly entered a residence in Adair Park located off Sawnee Drive just before 4 p.m. on Tuesday. One of the suspects was armed with a semi-automatic pistol. See Cumming Patch for more on this story.

Distraction Burglaries Targeting Elderly 

Gwinnett Police are currently investigating a series of distraction-style burglaries targeting elderly victims – usually women home alone in the daytime. Cpl. Jake Smith of the Gwinnett Police Department reported a number of incidents like this have occurred recently in Gwinnett County.   

The suspects in these cases target elderly victims, usually women, who they believe are home alone. One of the suspects, usually described as a Hispanic or Slavic male of average height and weight, approaches the victim for what seems to be a legitimate reason. 

“A common approach has been for the suspect to tell the victim he is building a fence for a neighbor and needs the victim to point out her back property line,” according to Smith. “While the victim is in the back yard with the first suspect, a second suspect enters the home through the front. The suspects usually take only jewelry.” See Duluth Patch for more on this story.

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