Full Notification

The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office was able to arrest a fleeing suspect with the help of a very observant neighborhood watch member in the Seven Hills community in North Paulding Wednesday, August 25. Johnny Atkins, 19 year old male of Kennesaw, GA, was arrested and charged with Theft of Services for an incident that occurred at Publix on Cedarcrest Rd in Paulding County.

The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office was called to the Publix on Cedarcrest Rd in reference to an individual that had fled the area without paying for services that he had received. Deputies were already in the area conducting random patrols and were on the scene in less than a minute from the time the call was dispatched. They began looking for the suspect in the area primarily focusing on the Seven Hills community due to the close proximity of that neighborhood to the location of the alleged crime.

Because of the close working relationship that the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office has formed with Seven Hills through their Neighborhood Watch program, deputies knew that they could alert members in Seven Hills in order to increase the amount of eyes that were looking for this suspect. Deputy Blackmon spoke to Lee Estock, Seven Hills Property Manager, and advised her of the situation and the suspect description. Within minutes, Ms. Estock spotted the suspect described to her in the amenities area of Seven Hills. Due to her involvement with the Neighborhood Watch group in Seven Hills as well as other communities that she has worked in throughout the years, she knew exactly what to do and acted immediately. Ms. Estock called the Sheriff’s Office and gave the exact location which was relayed to the deputies. Within seconds Ms. Estock had directed the deputies to the suspect and they were able to take him in to custody without further incident. Deputy Blackmon stated that had it not been for the “extra set of eyes” that was helping look for the suspect in Seven Hills the suspect may not have been found or identified.

Neighborhood Watch is one of the oldest and best known crime prevention concepts in America. A Neighborhood Watch program is a group of people within the same area who want to make their neighborhood safer by working together with local law enforcement to reduce crime and improve their quality of life. That is exactly what Seven Hills and many other neighborhoods throughout Paulding County are doing. “It is times like this that we are encouraged to know that our citizens support us in our crime fighting efforts and they take the information that we provide them through Neighborhood Watch to build a strong and more secure community,” said Paulding County Sheriff Gary Gulledge. “I want to thank Lee and the Seven Hills community for their help and support. You are an example to other communities as to how Neighborhood Watch groups and the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office should work together for the good of the citizens.” Atkins is currently held in the Paulding County Detention Center without bond.