Armed homeowner fires at suspects during burglary
by By Colton Campbell/Times-Georgian
Feb 04, 2013 | 8822 views | 6 6 comments | 25 25 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Four Villa Rica teenagers were arrested over the weekend after allegedly breaking into a home twice.

Capt. Keith Shaddix with the Villa Rica Police Department said the teens allegedly entered a home in the Twin Oaks subdivision shortly after 10 a.m. on Saturday.

The four suspects were identified as Travis Clifford Goolsby, 19; Joseph Brady Cook, 19; Austin Wayne Priest, 17; and Tony Chase McGuire, 17. All four suspects reside in Villa Rica.

Officers responded to the home after an alarm was triggered. Officers were checking the home and found it, Shaddix said. The alarm company notified the female homeowner who left work to return home.

Just before she arrived home, the woman received a second notification from the alarm company saying the alarm had been tripped again.

The homeowner arrived at the house and began to walk around the property before going inside. The victim told police she saw a male hiding in the woods behind the house and as she was walking toward him, two more males exited the rear door of her home.

One of the men was holding a firearm that was later determined to be stolen from the home. The victim was caught between the suspects leaving the house and the one in the woods.

Shaddix said the woman, out of fear, fired three shots at the suspect holding the gun as she she ran from the area.

Goolsby, who the homeowner was shooting at, was not injured during the shooting.

After firing the shots, the second suspect fled back into the house, she testified. She then saw two other suspects running from the front door of her home, with one of the men dropping a gun as he was running.

VRPD located the first suspect just after he had changed clothes in the restroom of a local restaurant. With the assistance of Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, two additional suspects were taken into custody after being found just outside the city limits. The fourth suspect was located later in the afternoon.

Police determined that all four teenagers had entered into the home and left when the alarm sounded. According to reports, the four hid in the woods while the officer was checking the home. After the officer left, Goolsby, Priest and McGuire re-entered the home while Cook stayed in the woods as a look-out.

Goolsby was identified as the suspect holding the gun whom the homeowner shot at, and Priest was identified as the suspect who dropped a firearm in the front yard as he ran away.

The firearm Priest was allegedly in possession of did not belong to the owner of the home. Police have not been able to identify if the firearm was stolen from another location.

A firearm replica was found just inside the home, and it was determined that McGuire dropped it while running from the home.

All stolen property was recovered.

Goolsby, Priest and McGuire were each charged with burglary and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Cook was charged only with burglary, as there was no evidence that he had a firearm during the incident.

The four are currently being held in Carroll County Jail, pending a bond hearing.

Also in Villa Rica over the weekend, police recovered a car that its Dallas owner said was stolen.

Officer Scott Adams of VRPD pulled over Carrollton resident Maranda Davenport, 34, at approximately 11:30 p.m. Friday.

Adams had been driving when he saw the Ford Focus Davenport was driving and input the tag to find that it had been reported stolen.

A dispatcher confirmed that the car had been taken from a Paulding County resident, 39-year-old Harold McGee.

Davenport said a friend had let her borrow the vehicle, which was valued at $16,000, about a week earlier.

The woman was taken to Carroll County Jail and was charged with theft by receiving stolen property.
Comments
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jbrown99
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February 08, 2013
We have a lot of young men/boys walking around the neighbor hood some meet up with girls and stand out in the street and puts their hands all over her. We have a house that needs to be condemned next to us and my husband caught kids going in and throwing things and breaking out some windows. And one day I was home and my son was driving my truck a young maned pulled actually backed up in his truck along side of my yard walked up to the front door did not ring the door bell or knock walked back down the steps went around and then came back and grabbed one of our gas cans. I called the police. I was up stairs watching him and took pictures a lot of people in Carrollton know now what he looks like.
seenitall
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February 07, 2013
Seems like VR has a lot of kids who commit burglarlies.
thopkins826
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February 07, 2013
"Officers responded to the home after an alarm was triggered. Officers were checking the home and found it, Shaddix said."

....and found it ?? They found the house, or the suspects or what?
Motion
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February 06, 2013
" Just before she arrived home, the woman received a second notification from the alarm company saying the alarm had been tripped again.

The homeowner arrived at the house and began to walk around the property before going inside."

Honestly,after being notified by the alarm company that her alarm and gone off the homeowner should have stayed away from the home and let the police handle things instead of her walking around the house like that.
Obviousman
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February 06, 2013
MORON POLITICIAN: "Why would anybody ever NEED more than ten rounds of ammo in a gun?"

CITIZEN: Ooh, FOUR simultaneous diversely armed thugs... my, my!

Opinionator
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February 06, 2013
Held pending a bond hearing?

How about NO bond so the victim/home defender can begin to feel safe in her own home?

Ignore their crying mamas and keep them in jail until a judge or jury delivers justice.