Arrests Made in South Paulding High School Thefts!

Paulding County, GA Over the weekend of August 9-12, 2013 several South Paulding High School (SPHS) athletic buildings were burglarized. The football, baseball, and softball field houses were all burglarized in two separate occurrences over that weekend. Approximately $20,000 worth of items were taken in the two burglaries.

Once the incident occurred, the Criminal Investigations Division, the Warrants

Division, and the Haralson-Paulding Drug Task Force sprang into action and began looking for leads into the burglary. After an intense investigation, with the assistance of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, three suspects have been arrested in connection with the SPHS burglary. The following individuals were arrested and charged with the following offenses:

      Jason Tyler Bishop (W/M, 38 YOA)

          of Dallas (Paulding County)

              Theft by Receiving (F)

   Jonathon Lee Byers (W/M, 23 YOA)

    of Douglasville (Paulding County)

             Theft by Taking (F)

               Obstruction (M)

           Probation Violation (M)

     William Floyd Couch (W/M, 44 YOA)

       of Douglasville (Paulding County)

              Theft by Receiving (F)

Couch, who is currently being held in the Douglas County Jail on an unrelated

Probation Violation, will face felony theft by receiving charges when he gets

transferred to the Paulding County Jail.

As a result of the arrests and subsequent

interviews, detectives have recovered the following items from the suspects who were taken into custody last week:

-Two John Deer Gator Utility Vehicles

-Refrigerator

-Gas Cans

-Propane Tanks

-Baseball Equipment (Bats, Bags, etc)

-Green Utility Wagon

-Extension Cords

-Fire Extinguisher

-Portable Spot Lights

-Miscellaneous Tools

According to Detectives, there are still some items that were stolen from SPHS that have not been recovered. The Criminal Investigations Division is asking anyone that may have information on the whereabouts of any of these missing items to contact the Sheriff’s Office at (770) 443-3015.

FIREFIGHTERS KILLED!

Out-of-control Arizona wildfire 

                            kills 19 firefighters...

Including nearly all of elite...HOTSHOT Crew!

Paulding County Deputy Receives Safety Award!

 Deputy Brian Fitzgerald 

Awarded the Commissioner’s

 Public Safety Award

(Paulding County, GA) On May 28, 2013 Deputy Brian Fitzgerald of the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Youth Services Division was awarded the Paulding County Board of Commissioner’s Public Safety Award. 

Deputy Fitzgerald was awarded the Paulding Commissioner’s Public Safety Award for his exemplary service to the Youth Services Division, as well as the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office and South Paulding High School. Deputy Fitzgerald is a School Resource Officer (SRO) in the Youth Services Division and has had an exemplary career with the Paulding County
Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Fitzgerald is the SRO at South Paulding High School.

Deputy Fitzgerald was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Board of Commissioners along with a “Dinner for Two” Gift Card from Texas Roadhouse.

On hand to present the award was: 

Standing First Row (L-R): 

Lieutenant Dee Morris

Jennifer Fitzgerald (Deputy Fitzgerald’s wife)

Deputy Brian Fitzgerald

Sheriff Gary Gulledge.

Standing Rear Row (L-R):

Post 1 Commissioner Dave Carmichael

Post 2 Commissioner Todd Pownall

County Attorney Jayson Phillips

Commission Chairman David Austin

Post 4 Commissioner David Barnett 

Post 3 Commissioner Tommie Graham

Congratulations to
 Deputy Fitzgerald 
and thanks to 

Texas Roadhouse 
for the generous donation 
of the gift card!

Craigslist Ad leads to Rape and Kidnapping charges!

Paulding County Man Arrested for Rape and Kidnapping

(Paulding County, GA) On May 29, 2013 Deputies with the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team, and the Haralson-Paulding Drug Task Force served a search warrant and arrest warrant on Christopher Michael Smith (W/M, 37 YOA) at his home on May 29, 2013. 

The arrest warrants and subsequent search warrant stemmed from an alleged rape and sexual assault that occurred on the evening of Monday May 27, 2013 at Smith’s residence 
(1467 Mt. Tabor Church Road Dallas, GA).

According to the victim, an ad was placed on Craigslist advertising her services as a bartender. When Smith contacted the victim, he explained that he was having a party and wanted to hire her to bartend. Once the victim was picked up by Smith on the evening of the supposed party, she was taken back to his Mt. Tabor Church Road residence where the rape took place. Once the incident was over, the victim was then taken back to her vehicle and instructed not to call law enforcement officials or else. 

As a result of the rape and sexual assault, Smith was charged with the following offenses:

-Rape (F)

-Aggravated Assault (F)

-Aggravated Sexual Battery (F)

-Aggravated Sodomy (F)

-Kidnapping (F)

-Possession of Marijuana with Intent 
 to Distribute (F)

-Battery (M)

Smith is currently being housed at the Paulding County Detention Center where he is being held with no bond. Considering the way in which this crime occurred, Detectives believe that there is the possibility that there may be other victims that have not come forward. Detectives want to reach out to anyone that may have had contact with Smith in the past that may possibly be a victim of rape or sexual assault to call the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at (770) 443-3015.

SAT Preparatory Program Launched to Paulding Juniors through Local Business Contributions

It is well known that SAT scores drive the college admissions process.  Through a strategic partnership between the Paulding Education Foundation and Paulding County School District, a new SAT Prep Program has been launched to help selected high school juniors raise their scores on this important test. 

Fifteen students representing all five high schools were selected through a lottery system to enroll for free in a Princeton Review SAT prep course held at East Paulding High School. This course normally costs up to $900 per student and include over 30 hours of coursework and testing. Generally students can expect their test scores to rise by 100-200 points following completion of this program.  

Selected students and their parents met for the first time on Tuesday, February 26 at a parent meeting to receive their instructions and make the commitment to follow through in the coursework. This program was made possible by gifts to the Paulding Education Foundation. Don Barbour of AT&T, Scott Leonard of IronStob and Caric Martin of DC Bank each presented $1000 to this program. These gifts, along with a generous grant from the Paulding Education Foundation, fund this pilot program.

Don Barbour of AT&T (right) presents a check to Jim Ashworth, Chairman of the Paulding Education Foundation. Also pictured are Cliff Cole, Superintendent of Paulding County Schools and Amy Mollohan, PEF Executive Director.

The Paulding Education Foundation is funded by generous corporate gifts and fundraisers throughout the year.  Upcoming fundraisers include the Paulding Pep Rally 5K Run/Fun Run presented by United Healthcare on April 20 at the Silver Comet Trail in Hiram and the Teacher of the Year Celebration presented by MembersFirst Credit Union on May 7 at the Paulding Jet Center.   Sponsorships are still available for each of the events.

For further information contact:

 Amy Mollohan 

at pauldingedufoundation@gmail.com

or 770-443-8003 x 10142 

or visit www.pauldingeducationfoundation.com.

Life in OLDEN Times!

As we complain about the simple things we encounter each day we should think back to how things were hundreds of years ago...

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and were still smelling pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor!

 ​

Baths equaled a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children.  Last of all the babies, by then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water".

Houses had thatched roofs. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the pets... dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs."

  

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. So, they found if they made beds with big posts and hung a sheet over the top, it addressed that problem. Hence those beautiful big 4 poster beds with canopies.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors which would get slippery in the winter when wet. So they spread thresh on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed at the entry way, hence a "thresh hold".

  

They cooked in the kitchen in a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They mostly ate vegetables and didn't get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been in there for a month. Hence the rhyme: peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork and would feel really special when that happened. When company came over, they would bring out some bacon and hang it to show it off. It was a sign of wealth and that a man "could really bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."

​Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food. This happened most often with tomatoes, so they stopped eating tomatoes ... for 400 years.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the "upper crust".

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake".

  

England is old and small, and they started running out of places to bury people. So, they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a house and reuse the grave. In reopening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the dead person and lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell. Hence on the "graveyardshift" they would know that whether someone was "saved by the bell" or whether he was a "dead ringer!

Death at the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office!

Andrew Scott Pittman

The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office along with the Calhoun Regional Office of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) are investigating the incustody death of Andrew Scott Pittman (W/M, 26 YOA).

In the early morning hours of February 8, 2013 Pittman was found unconscious in a bathroom inside the Detention Center. Once he was located, aid was immediately rendered to Pittman. After checking his vital signs, Pittman was unable to be resuscitated.

Pittman was being held in the Paulding County Detention Center on the following charges:

-Possession/ Distribution/ Manufacturing of Controlled Substances (F)

-Possession of Firearm by a Convicted Felon (F)

-Possession/ Use of Drug Related Objects (M)

-Probation Violation (M)

Pittman had been incarcerated in the Paulding County Detention Center since November 14, 2012 where he was awaiting trail. Since Pittman had a probation violation hold, he was not eligible to bond out of the Detention Center.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the death does not appear to be due to any altercation or act of violence. Once the autopsy and toxicology results return from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Lab, investigators will have a better understanding of what may have caused Pittman’s untimely death.

For additional information contact:

Corporal Ashley Henson
770-505-5535 Office
678-247-3903 Cell
678-224-4799 Fax
ashley.henson@paulding.gov
www.paulding.gov/sheriff