Teens Plead Guilty, Get Probation in BridgeMill Trespassing Case

Two teenagers who were arrested and charged with burglarizing a BridgeMill home have pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of criminal trespassing.

Both Gabrielle Hope Ricci, 19, and Alexander Joseph Hale, 18 last month entered guilty pleas — which were negotiated — on one count of criminal trespassing, which is a misdemeanor.

Cherokee County Superior Court Judge David Cannon Jr. last week sentenced both teens to a year of probation. While on probation, both Ricci and Hale must not consume alcohol or occupy a house or vehicle where alcohol or illegal drugs are present. They are also banned from having contact with each other or the victims in the case and must perform 120 hours of community service.

Hale is also ordered not to possess any weapons or firearms nor be in a house or vehicle where those items are present. Upon obtaining his GED or high school diploma, $350 of his lawyer fees will be suspended. For Ricci, she is also ordered not to enter the home where she trespassed on and is banned from going into an establishment that serves alcohol.

Accusations were filed against both defendants in January, charging them each with one count of criminal trespassing. According to the accusation, the defendants were accused of “knowingly and without authority” entering to a home on Cedar Woods Trail ”in order to remain and make use of the premises and utilities therein.”

Deputies with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a burglary in progress call the morning of Dec. 10 at a the house located in unincorporated Canton.

Homeowners who were checking on their vacant property heard someone in the basement, and observed a man and woman flee the home by climbing over the fence in the backyard, the agency noted.

“A description of the suspects was given over the radio and Sheriff Roger Garrison located the suspects walking down the sidewalk where they were taken into custody,” sheriff’s office spokesperson Lt. Jay Baker said.

Garrison, who lives in the subdivision, said anytime calls are dispatched over the radio, he responds if he’s close to the area.

The sheriff noted the two suspects were attempting to blend in along BridgeMill Avenue when he pulled up slowly in an unmarked vehicle. The pair, he added, initially denied their involvement, and said they were in the neighborhood after they were dropped off by a friend at Publix, which sits at the corner of Sixes and Bells Ferry roads.

“It was obviously the good work of the other responding (deputies) that tied them back to the residence,“ he said.

Both Ricci and Hale were arrested and booked into the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center.