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Sheriff talks with residents about concerns
Law enforcement officers address drug problems, loitering, safety
0202 Steve Sikes
Steve Sikes

Sheriff Steve Sikes and his staff are ready to get the bad guys off the streets.

On Wednesday evening, Sikes and his staff met with about 50 Lake George residents to answer questions about community concerns at the Lake George Property Owners Association club house in Midway.

"I’d like to thank the law enforcement of Liberty County for being here tonight to be able to answer some of our questions that we have about the drugs, the speeders, anything that you guys want to ask. That’s what these gentlemen are here for tonight," property owner’s association president Jane Pope told the audience. "Remember, these guys are here for us, for this community and every community here in Liberty County. They’re here trying to get focused on what needs to be done in our neighborhoods to get our neighborhoods back safe so we can have a happy community."

Before starting the question-and-answer session, Sikes told the audience that he was there to get questions and to come up with some solutions to the problems residents face on a regular basis, including drug dealers, speeders and thieves.

About a dozen residents stood up and asked Sikes, Chief Deputy Keith Moran, Multi Agency Crack Enforcement (MACE) Task Force representative Cpt. Chris Reid and Cpt. David Edwards about particular issues of concern, including houses and roads that may be linked to drug peddling.

Moran told the group that the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office has 160 full-time employees throughout the department that help run the system, but that isn’t enough to get criminals off the streets and keep Lake George and the surrounding areas safe.

Sikes agreed that it takes a focused community to curb crime and dangerous issues.

"Without information, you cannot run a sheriff’s department. This job — our jobs right here — depend on the citizens of the county. It depends on meetings just like this, plus getting feedback from you," Sikes said. "We want to prevent crime, but it’s going to take feedback from each and every one of you."

Ninety percent of calls are non-violent, and the department averages about 36,000 calls a year, Moran said. Many of the calls coming from Lake George residents specifically are domestic-related or about people loitering — namely teenagers.

Sikes’ staff asked that residents take note of suspicious activity and, when possible, get details such as license plate numbers to report to deputies. Residents also were encouraged to report calls, even anonymously, if they witness a crime.

Moran advised residents to photograph all jewelry, including heirlooms, and write a list of descriptions for each belonging to make it easier to identify in case of theft. The chief deputy said about half of his own possessions are documented in the same fashion to protect his family’s property.

"We don’t want to just react to crime; we want to prevent crime," Sikes said.

A new Liberty County Sheriff’s website also is expected to be unveiled shortly and will contain an informational blog with crime updates that will be weekly or monthly, the sheriff said.

After the meeting, staff members spoke with residents about additional concerns and said they thought the forum was a success.

"It went extremely well," Sikes said. He added that he hopes to do more monthly community meetings. "I’m looking forward to more of these."

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HPD Reports
crime scene

From Hinesville Police Department reports. Editor’s note: Due to computer issues at the city, reports have been unavailable in recent weeks. They are back. Our thanks to the HPD clerks who provide them. We’re catching up as quickly as possible.

Burglary, etc: A man called 911 on Feb. 27 because he was watching his White Circle home getting burglarized. The man said his alarm system had an app that showed live video on his phone, and he was “viewing three males inside his residence,” as he talked to 911.
Police responded, caught two of them inside the house and found the third guy “hiding behind a tree,” the report said.
Detectives are investigating.

Public indecency: An officer was sent to Lowes around 4:30 p.m. March 12 in reference to a disturbance involving a man and a woman.
The woman, a Lowe’s employee, said she had just got back from her lunch break when she saw the man “looking around at items on a shelf.”
The woman said she asked him if he needed help finding anything and he held up something, then said “I have found everything I need,” the report said. “(he) then placed his arms around (the employee) to hug her and then kissed (her) neck. (She) then moved away from (him) and told him to have a nice day and attempted to walk away from (the man). (He) then began to follow (her), stating ‘I would lick you up and down’ and ‘you better hide in an office.’ (She) then spoke with manager and called 911.’”
The man told police he thought he recognized the woman “and stated to me that he had previously had a relationship with her approximately two years ago. (He) was unable to recall (her) name while on scene.”
The woman told police “she has never seen, nor spoken to (the man) before today.”
The woman was given a case number and told what to do. The man was allowed to leave.

Indecent exposure: A Berkshire Terrace man reported he went outside his house around 6:40 a.m. and “observed a man who appeared to be intoxicated, peeing on his truck and trailer.”
The complainant said the man “fully exposed his penis while he was peeing. When (complainant) asked him to stop the man told him to ‘shut the (bleep) up.’ (Complainant) advised the man he would call police. (Complainant) advised his young son was standing outside during the incident. He said the man got into a 1996 black Buick and drove away, almost hitting cars that were parked in the driveway.”
The complainant said he did not want to press charges, “he said he wanted to report the incident because the man did not stop peeing when he asked him too.”
The complainant said he’d seen the man before “come and go” from a nearby apartment. The officer met with the resident of that apartment, who said the man was a cousin and did not pee on the complainant’s trailer.

Identity theft: A man went to HPD on March 21 to report that when he went to get a driver’s history for a commercial driver’s license, he found several citations on the history that weren’t his. “(He) stated he noticed someone was issued four citations in Arkansas and one citation in Jacksonville, Florida,” and during the time the Arkansas tickets were written he was in locked up in Georgia.
“(He) advised that he was not incarcerated when the citation in Jacksonville, Florida was issued but he was not in Florida at the time. (He) was unable to leave the state of Georgia due to being on felony probation.”
It gets worse.
“(He) told me that he attempted to file his income taxes for the first time ever and he was rejected due to owing the IRS money, $20,000. (He) stated he spoke to a representative for the IRS and he was informed that taxes were filed in his name in 2014 and the return was $1,3000. (He) advised he did not file taxes in 2013 and he was still incarcerated at the time.”
The man then told the officer he thinks his brother “got the citations and filed income taxes using his information. (He) believed his brother obtained his Social Security number and other demographics when he was incarcerated.”
The man said he talked to his brother, who said he paid all the tickets. “(His) brother also told him on a different occasion that he knew his date of birth and (SSN). (He) advised he told his brother that it was not OK to use his name due to him getting his life together and attempting to drive commercial vehicles.”
The guy said he didn’t have his brother’s address. He chose to fill out an identity theft packet.

Simple battery, theft by taking: An officer was sent around 2 a.m. March 20 to the Baymont Inn regarding a disturbance. There, a woman said she was being “grabbed and pulled” by a man when she told him to leave her motel room. She said they began arguing when he accused her of stealing $100.
The man claimed he met the woman on a dating website and when they “started having sex she informed him that it would cost $100.” He told her he wasn’t going to pay her, “got dressed and realized the five $20s in his pants pocket were missing. He accused (her) of stealing his money.”
The officer asked the woman if she stole the man’s money and she replied, “No, I work hard for my money.”
Both were given a case number and told how to get a warrant.

Robbery: A woman called HPD March 15 to report she was home when her estranged husband came to her apartment “and asked her to come outside to talk to him,” a report said.
“She stated that she stepped outside thinking that he was going to be civil, though she recently filed for divorce from him. As she stepped outside, he grabbed her necklace off her neck and then ran down the stairwell and out to the parking lot.”
The woman said he stood by his vehicle a minute, then drove off as police arrived. Officers checked the area but had no luck finding the man.

Burglary: Police were sent to a Malibu Drive address on March 13 regarding missing firearms and ransacked rooms. The homeowners were at work and got home to find handguns and rifles missing, as well as video games.
It appeared the home may have been broken into through the attic. Police found footprints and other evidence, and the case is under investigation.

Recovered stolen trailer: A U-Haul employee was inventorying equipment on March 14 when she discovered a trailer that had been reported stolen in Florida on Dec. 26. “She stated someone had backed the trailer into a parking stall along with the other trailers sometime during the night.”

Theft: In February, the maintenance man at Cypress Bend Mobile Home Park reported that “22 air conditioning unit disconnect boxes were stolen from various lots… He stated he began receiving calls from people that their air conditioning units were not working.”
The boxes contain small pieces of copper. He didn’t know who swiped them, but valued the total at about $341.

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