When Larry Johnson found out his neighbor admitted to having a gang affiliation during an arrest, he said he was not surprised.

“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised because kids these days are just doing anything,” said Johnson, 61, of Carrollton.

But Johnson says he is more concerned with a string of recent break-ins than gang activity.

“I haven’t seen anything gang related, but I have been broken into four or five times,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s neighbor, David Jamal Phillips, 29, of Carrollton, was arrested Tuesday on a burglary charge after Sheriff’s Office Investigator Shane Spradlin linked him to a Dec. 13 burglary on Knob Drive.

During his arrest, Phillips reportedly admitted to being associated with the Piru Blood gang, which does not have a major violent presence in Carroll County, according to Capt. Shane Taylor.

When Spradlin executed a search warrant at Phillips’ Knob Drive residence, he recovered a number or items stolen from a woman’s home down the street.

To enter the residence, Phillips reportedly kicked in the woman’s back door and left through the front door.

“There was clothing missing, money, a digital camera, a wallet and a plastic cup full of change,” Spradlin said. “The items we found matched her description of the stolen items, including clothing sizes, brand and color.”

Spradlin also discovered a bag of suspected cocaine and a bag of suspected marijuana so he arrested two other men at Phillips’ house, Montago Crowder, 20, and Joseph Michael Wilson, 19, who, along with Phillips, were charged with possession of the two drugs.

But Spradlin said he did not recover any of the items Johnson reported missing, even though Johnson said he believes Phillips was involved in the break-ins at his home.

“I’m glad they were caught,” Johnson said. “I can’t say the man arrested today broke into my house every time, but I know he broke into my house.”

Spradlin said alleged gang affiliations are common among those in their teens and 20s, but the gang activity in Carroll County is minimal compared with that of Atlanta.

“We might get a group that will hit the radar every once in a while,” Taylor said. “But we don’t consistently see it day in and day out.”

Capt. Chris Dobbs of the Carrollton Police said an increase in the activity is possible, but unlikely.

“We don’t see gangs participate in a lot of violent crimes. That’s not to say we haven’t in the past, but not on a regular basis,” Dobbs said. “Who knows, it could be a problem in the future but I don’t see it becoming a huge problem.”

Taylor said Carroll County gang activity is confined mostly to minor crimes and he described the gangs as being friend groups rather than a threat.

“We do have gang problems, they are just not committing hard core crimes,” Taylor said. “I think it spills over from the culture.”