The Dalton Police Department is asking for the public's help to identify a man who stole approximately $2,500 worth of tools from a storage facility at Christian Heritage School earlier this month. The suspect was recorded by surveillance cameras at the school.
The thefts occurred on June 9, but the suspect was first recorded by the school's surveillance cameras at approximately 2 a.m. on Sunday, June 8. At that time, the suspect came out of the woods behind the school and walked into the north parking lot where a construction contractor had left several conex trailers with construction equipment.
The suspect appeared to be attempting to avoid being on camera, keeping his head low with a baseball cap when standing near cameras. However, his face was visible several times while he was standing further from camera view. After walking around the construction equipment and using a cell phone flash light to look into cars, the suspect finally went inside of a parked school bus and stayed inside for several hours, presumably sleeping.
At approximately 6:45 a.m., the suspect left the scene. The suspect returned at approximately 12:30 a.m. on June 9. This time, the suspect walked along the wood line instead of entering the parking lot and appeared to still be taking care to avoid being on camera. He went to the conex trailers again, pulling something up over his face as he approached. The suspect remained in the area of the trailers for approximately an hour. He then left with a handcart dolly that had been left at the scene which he used to haul off a large tote. He left in camera view with the dolly and tote walking to the west.
The construction contractor, Smith Built Construction, told police that the following tools belonging to subcontractor Bock Construction were stolen in the incident: three Dewalt impact drills, a Dewalt sawzall, two Dewalt routers, two 60-amp Flex batteries, two 5-amp Dewalt batteries, two battery chargers, two Dewalt 360 lasers, two Dewalt sheetrock guns, and one toolbag with miscellaneous tools. The stolen tools were valued at a total of approximately $2,500.
The suspect is a light-skinned man who appeared to be in his 20s or early 30s with facial hair. On the first night, he was recorded wearing a light blue T-shirt and blue jeans. He wore the same gray baseball cap on both nights.
Anyone who knows the identity of the suspect or has information on this crime is asked to contact Detective Ben Ridley at 706 278-9085, extension 9-122.