Detectives cracked a seven–month–old burglary ring through the use of GPS on an iPad.
Police, with the help of a victim, traced the item with GPS tracking to a house on the 900 block of Wilcox Street. There they found Vincent Joseph Clarke, 27, the stolen device and a wristwatch that had been stolen at the same time. He has been charged with two counts of theft by receiving stolen property.
Police also discovered a cache of other stolen items ranging from televisions to guns to bicycles and even a motorized bicycle.
Events began Wednesday evening when a resident on the 600 block of West 35th Street returned home to find a blinking light indicating her burglar alarm had activated. Police found a window broken out and the house ransacked.
A resident activated a search function on his iPad that led police to the stolen items. Police have recovered, among other items, six televisions, Xboxes, games, a child’s Mongoose bicycle, lap top computers, iPods, iPhones, firearms and two marijuana plants.
The items are believed to have been taken in burglaries and thefts as long as seven months ago. Detectives are asking anyone who has lost such items and not reported them to contact them at (912) 651–6931 with a description.
• Animal Control officers have filed charges against a Savannah man after finding 19 dogs abandoned in his home.
Officers were dispatched to a house on 6902 Howard Foss Drive, after a neighbor called them. She had walked in the neighborhood and noticed a bad smell and did not think anyone had lived in the house for some time, but could hear dogs barking.
Over a span of a week or two police officers had responded to the home a couple of times. They discovered a dead animal in a wood line near the residence and assumed the smell the neighbor was complaining about was coming from it.
On April 24 officers responded to the residence and could see conditions inside the house because dogs had ripped the curtains down. It was obvious to them nobody was living there.
A notice was placed on the door by Animal Control giving the owner 24 hours to respond. When there was no response, they contacted the owner of the property. He in turn gave them the name of the tenant, Kirby Campbell. He was contacted and gave police permission to enter the residence.
Once inside officers found 10 dead dogs in different states of decomposition. Some were just skeletal remains, and there was evidence the dogs were forced to eat each other to survive.
Nine of the dogs were removed and taken to the emergency clinic to be evaluated. The dogs that were able to be medically released have been taken to Animal Control and will be evaluated for adoption.
After a request by Animal Control to come to police headquarters, Campbell did so and was arrested on numerous charges.
He has been charged with state charges of (10) counts of felony aggravated cruelty, (9) counts of cruelty to animals, (19) counts of abandonment. City ordinance citations include (1) count of keeping of animals sanitation, (1) count of distance of animal ( too many animals) (19) counts of no shots, no tags.
