Husband, Wife Charged In Cartersville Parking Lot Thefts

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Investigators with the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office have arrested a husband and wife in connection with parking lot thefts in the Market Place Boulevard area of unincorporated Cartersville.

Nicolas Daniel Brown, 31, and Krista Danielle Brown, 24, both of White, were arrested on Wednesday and are being held without bond at the Bartow County Jail.

According to Sheriff Clark Millsap, investigators were able to crack the case by identifying a person of interest due to a high number of pawn shop transactions along with an increase number of reported thefts from vehicles in parking lots such as Lowe’s and Walmart over the last two months.

Millsap also said his agency recently assigned an investigator to “full-time pawn shop and scrap yard duties” as contributing to the efforts to catch the alleged suspects.

Sheriff’s office investigators began to narrow down the times these were likely occurring and have been watching the areas in unmarked law enforcement vehicles.

Just after noon Wednesday, June 10, a Bartow County investigator in an unmarked car observed a male allegedly exit his vehicle and remove a weed trimmer and an edger from the back of a pickup truck.

The male then allegedly placed the items into his truck and left the scene. The vehicle, a black Chevrolet Trailblazer, and the male matched descriptions from previous thefts in the same area.

The investigator followed the vehicle until a Bartow County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle could catch up and make the traffic stop. The Browns were arrested and are charged with this latest theft and numerous others.

Millsap stated investigators believe the couple are possibly involved in similar thefts in Bartow and Cherokee counties as well as the cities of Cartersville and Canton. Detectives are also working to track down the owners of the stolen property.

The sheriff’s office said most of the stolen items were lawn equipment, power tools and other items that “can be lifted” quickly from a vehicle.

Investigators hope to recover much of the property stolen, and believe the items could be scattered in pawn shops in and around Bartow County.

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