Georgia Tech Employee Arrested On Felony Charges Of Forgery And Identity Theft

Atlanta, GA

An investigation by Georgia Tech's office of internal auditing and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has led to the arrest of a Jonesboro woman on charges that she stole the identity of an Illinois resident and used that information to steal over $10,000 from the school.

Merideth Durrah, 38, who worked as a program coordinator in the College of Sciences, faces felony charges related to the incident in which GBI officials says Durrah forged a letter from a professor at Georgia Tech offering the woman a job, then stole at east two payroll checks in the amount of $5,100 each from the school issued in the woman's name.

The investigation began after the Illinois woman was denied employment in her home state following a background check with showed she had not paid taxes on the funds from Georgia Tech.

"This woman had access to privileged information with respect to the person in Illinois," said John Bankhead, GBI spokesman. "How she got access to that information is still under investigation."

Durrah has been terminated from her position at the school and faces felony charges of forgery and theft by taking. Officials say other charges may be filed.

Fugitive Dekalb County Cop Captured In Belize

Punta Gorda, Belize

Following a lead given to the US Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service, police arrested fugitive Dekalb County Sheriffs Deputy Derrick Yancey in a bar in Punta Gorda, Belize.

Yancey is accused of murdering his 44 year old wife Linda Yancey (who was also a Dekalb police officer) and Marcial Cax Puluc, a 20 year old immigrant "day laborer", inside the Yancey's Stone Mountain, Georgia home in August of 2008. Yancey claimed that the day laborer had shot his wife and then he shot the day laborer. Yancey was arrested after ballistics tests confirmed that he had killed both victims.

On August 28, 2008 Dekalb Superior Court Judge Anne Workman ordered that the accused double murderer was to be released on bond and placed under "house arrest". On April 4, 2009, Yancey cut the electronic monitoring device off his ankle and fled from his mother's Clayton county home, where he had been living under "house arrest".

Yancey remained on the run for five months and was profiled on America's Most Wanted. He's also included in the show's "Cops On The Wrong Side Of The Law" feature.

Police in Belize say Yancey was taken into custody without incident in a bar in southern Belize on September 19, 2009.

"We had his photograph in our possession and upon identifying ourselves, he just handed over himself. There was no resistance in his arrest," said Inspector Andres Makin of the Punta Gorda Police Station.

Yancey will be extradited back to Georgia to face prosecution.

Georgians Demand More Information On Crime Statistics

Atlanta, GA
Amid rising crime rates, the decreased ability of law enforcement agencies to protect citizens and public admissions by local politicians that the state is unsafe, many Georgia residents and civic organizations are demanding better access to information on crime statistics.

Quote:

Some Seek More Crime Reports

Statistics wanted: Those trying to get information to try to determine trends in neighborhoods can run into obstacles.

By Megan Matteucci, Tim Eberly

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Fred Pangle uses a neighborhood map, Post-it notes and word-of-mouth to track crime statistics in his Rex subdivision.

The handyman said he maps crime for his Amberwood Neighborhood Association because he can’t get enough information from the Clayton County Police Department.

“They say they can’t tell us anything unless you’re the victim,” Pangle said. “Maybe if we had crime statistics, people might come to the realization of how unsafe it is and know what’s really going on.”

Under the Georgia Open Records Act, almost all initial crime incident reports are open to public review. Across the metro area, people get individual reports every day —- mostly for use in traffic cases or incidents in which they were victims.

But amid rising interest in crime rates, residents, civic groups or even reporters trying to determine broader trends in neighborhoods can find that getting information is more complicated.

Several county departments, including Clayton, Cobb and Gwinnett, generally limit access to reports on a specific incident or for a specific address. There is no ready access to incident logs.

“Open records law does not require an agency to allow open inspection of bulk or all reports,” said Cpl. Illana Spellman of Gwinnett County police. “Open records law requires that if a specific report is requested and is open to public disclosure, that the information be released.”

That’s wrong, said Hollie Manheimer, executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. Initial incident and arrest reports, she said, “are the classic public record. All of them are open, immediately and always, for public inspection.”

More at AJC.COM.

Former Sheriff's Deputy Jumps Bond On Murder Charges

Decatur, GA
The Dekalb County Fugitive Squad is searching for a former policeman who jumped bond while awaiting trial on charges that he murdered his wife and a day laborer in 2008.

Former Dekalb County Sheriff's Deputy Derrick Yancey was out of jail under a $150,000 bond and under house arrest when he cut off an electronic monitoring device on Friday and disappeared from his mother's Clayton County home.

According to sheriff's department spokesperson Lt. Billi Akins, Yancey had been staying at his mother and stepfather’s home in Jonesboro awaiting an undetermined trial date and was last seen there Friday night.

“He was an electronic monitor and was restricted to the house,” Akins said late Saturday night. “We received info that he cut the bracelet off and left his residence.”

Yancey, 49, was indicted in August of last year when he was accused in the June 2008 double murder of his 44 year old wife, Linda Yancey and a day laborer, Marcial Puluc. Linda Yancey was also an officer on the Dekalb County police force.

Yancey claimed that he had shot Puluc after discovering that the 20 year old day laborer had killed his wife. Investigators said lab tests showed Yancey shot both victims.

Police say the fugitive should be considered armed and dangerous.

If you have information about where Yancey may be, please call the DeKalb County Sheriffs Fugitive Squad at (404) 298-8200.

Winter Storm Hits Atlanta With Snow, Winds And Power Outages

Atlanta, GA

A winter storm has brought wind and snow to northern Georgia resulting in road hazards, power outages and school closing across metro-Atlanta. The snow moved in early Sunday morning and is expected to continue through Monday.

The storm had blanketed Alabama with four inches of snow on Saturday and the northern Georgia area can expect anywhere from two to four inches.

High winds and fallen trees coupled with the weight of the snow on power lines have knocked out electricity for nearly 5,000 residents of Butts, Spaulding and Gwinnett counties and additional outages are expected throughout the night as the snow continues to fall and the high winds increase.

Six Flags amusement park postponed it's season opening that was scheduled for today. The Atlanta History Center and the Atlanta Zoo have also announced closings due to the hazardous weather conditions. Many churches have canceled Sunday evening services and numerous businesses, school districts and government agencies have announced closing for Monday.

Gas Prices Soar Across Metro Atlanta

Atlanta, GA

Fuel prices in metro Atlanta skyrocketed to over $5 per gallon in some areas Friday afternoon as wholesalers and retailers anticipated potential damage to refineries in the Gulf region from the approaching hurricane.

One Ingles Gas Express store in Lawrenceville was charging as much as $5.25 cents per gallon on Friday. That price later dropped to $4.51 per gallon, then dropped again to $4.35, which was still nearly $1.00 higher than yesterday's average price per gallon in the Atlanta area.

A spokesperson for Ingles said the dramatic rise in price was related to the company's purchase of five tankers of gasoline on Thursday at an inflated rate, and that the company was passing that cost along to it's customers.

Deputy Sheriff Fired Over Fraudulent Bigfoot Corpse

Jonesboro, GA

A local sheriff's deputy and apparent con-man has lost his job over his part in a recent Bigfoot hoax. The 28 year old hoaxer, Matthew Whitton, was fired when the supposed Bigfoot corpse which Whitten and a friend, Rick Dryer, claimed they found in the north Georgia mountains turned out to be a rubber costume.

“I terminated him,” said Police Chief Jeffrey Turner. “He’s disgraced himself, he’s an embarrassment to the Clayton County Police Department, his credibility and integrity as an officer is gone, and I have no use for him,” Turner said. “His behavior is unbecoming of that of a police officer."

“This turn of events from hero to someone who defrauds a nation is just baffling. I don’t know how he got from one point to the other,” Turner said.

Whitton and Dryer had claimed that they found the corpse on a Bigfoot hunting expedition a few months ago. The two con-men had been running a website offering hunting trips to perspective victims for $499 per trip. They produced several videos on Youtube claiming they had found this corpse. In one of these videos the pair meet at Hartsfield International Airport to pick up Dr. Paul Van Buren, a scientist from Texas to examine DNA samples from the creature. The fake scientist was later exposed as Whitton's brother, Martin.

The exposure of the "scientist" fraud lead to the release of another Youtube video in which Whitton tried to salvage the hoax and taunted the people of the Bigfoot research community who had blown his cover (video below).

Within a short time Whitton and Dryer had teamed up with notorious Bigfoot scam artist Tom Biscardi and set up a press conference in Palo Alto, California during which they planned to release results of DNA testing from samples of the corpse. Of the three DNA samples that were tested one was determined to be unusable, one was determined to be human DNA and the other was said to be oppossum DNA.

Biscardi quickly attempted to attribute the oppossum DNA to being from the contents of the creatures stomach, yet the entire scam fell apart over this passed weekend when a block of ice in which the creature was encased melted and revealled that the supposed Bigfoot was in fact a rubber costume.

Both Whitton, who was on administrative leave from the Sheriff's department after shooting himself in the hand while on duty, and Dryer have since disappeared. Police Chief Turner says he has been unable to contact Whitton to give him his termination documents and retrieve police uniforms and other department property.

Paki Strangles Own Daughter For Disgracing Family

Jonesboro, GA

A 54 year old Pakistani man residing in Clayton County was arrested on Sunday in connection with the strangulation death of his daughter.

Chaudhry Rashad is in the Clayton County Jail charged with murdering 25 year old Sandela Kanwal at the family's Clayton County home following an argument over her plans to divorce her husband.

Police say Rashad said he killed his daughter as a "matter of honor". The woman's husband, from an "arranged" marriage, resides in Illinois and the couple is reported not to have seen one another for months.

Quote:

A Clayton County man was behind bars Sunday, accused of killing his own daughter. Police said the father was angry because he felt his daughter was disgracing the family.

Investigators said 54-year-old Chaudhry Rashad was so outraged at his daughter, Sandela Kanwal, and her plans for divorce that he killed her after a heated argument at the family's home. Investigators said Rashad confessed to strangling the 25-year-old woman.

Controlled media article and video here.

Clayton County 'Too Black For It's Own Good'

Jonesboro, GA

Several years ago when Victor Hill took over as sheriff of Clayton County, he instituted a policy similar to that of Dekalb County CEO Vernon Jones, forcing out White police officers in favor of blacks. He probably never guessed that within a few short years black crime would be rampant throughout the county.

In an effort to combat the sky rocketing crime rate in the county, Hill has authorized his officers to target blacks who are playing loud music, littering and loitering in the county. Although these are fairly petty crimes, the officers have found that investigations of these lesser crimes often lead to arrests on warrants for more serious offenses.

News video from Fox 5 Atlanta:

Gangbanger Invades Clayton County Home, Goes Out With A Real Bang

Riverdale, GA
A known gang member was shot dead on Tuesday after he broke into the home of a White family on Camp Road in north Clayton County, near the Fulton County line.

Marques Karun McGhee, a 19 year old negro gang member, died from multiple gunshot wounds on the floor of the home's garage after being confronted by a 16 year old White male resident, who had been at the home by himself at about 11:30 a.m., when he heard the sound of breaking glass, grabbed his father's semi-automatic handgun and went to investigate.

Upon entering the garage, the 16 year old observed a negro male climbing in through a window that had just been smashed. The young man fired 14 shots striking the intruder at least eight times in the legs, chest and head. The home invader was dead by the time police arrived on the scene.

The shooter's identity is being protected due to his age. Police said that the 16 year old's father had recently withdrawn the teenager from North Clayton High School because of uncontrolled gang violence at the school.

Clayton County Interim Police Chief Jeff Turner stated that this appears to be a case of self defense and that no charges will be filed against the 16 year old shooter. "The intruder went to some lengths to disguise himself, wearing black clothes and a black bandanna across his face." said Turner. McGhee was also listed in county's "gang member database" as a member of the "Hit Squad", a local negro street gang.

Witnesses said that there had been a second negro who had driven McGhee to the home, but fled the scene when the gunfire began.

Feral negroes in the area have since spray painted gang signs and graffiti threats against the young home defender and his family on street signs throughout the neighborhood. Police are keeping the area under surveillance.