Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office

Official Media Release

09/02/07

"Equipment theft thwarted by Lumpkin County investigators"

On August 31, 2007 investigators from the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office, acting on information they had received from a concerned citizen, conducted surveillance and waited for the suspect, Jody M. Lewis (27), to bring a $9,000 piece of landscaping equipment to a location off of Blackburn Rd. Lewis eventually arrived at the agreed upon location and attempted to sell the piece of equipment for the low price of $4300.

Investigators determined Lewis, was on work release from Hall County Sheriff’s Office’s work release program, and he had only purchased the equipment from a dealer in Dallas, GA, with a $9000 check, the day before he was attempting to sell it. Investigators looked into the legitimacy of the check and discovered, as they suspected, the check was written on a closed account.

Lewis was taken into custody by Lumpkin County on outstanding warrants out of Athens/Clarke County. Lewis was returned to the custody of Hall County and a Lumpkin County arrest warrant for the offense of theft by conversion was obtained for Lewis. A hold was placed on Lewis by Lumpkin County so he will remain in custody and answer to the Lumpkin County charges before he is released.

The equipment was returned to the Dallas dealership.

          Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office