Vagrants try to make house more like a home

Some unwanted guests may be living in a vacant house — and they are apparently trying to make the place feel more like home.

A representative of a realty company told a Jackson County deputy that someone is living illegally at a Meadow Vista Lane residence in Hoschton, according to an incident report. A deputy checked each room of the residence to ensure that no one was there at the time.

While inside the house, the deputy said he found two pillows and a blanket on the floor of a bedroom. He also noticed a freshly-potted plant on a kitchen counter.

The realty company’s representative resecured the residence, which initially had an open back door. There were no signs of forced entry.

A neighbor told the deputy that he saw two women looking at the house. The women left, but returned and told the neighbor that the door opened when they went to look at it, according to an incident report.

The neighbor said when he entered the house, he noticed the pillows and blanket in the bedroom, along with the plant in the kitchen. The neighbor said he resecured the door and checked the residence again at night, when it was still secured.

The neighbor said when he noticed that the door was open, he called the realty company and the representative arrived, according to an incident report. Deputies provided extra patrols in the subdivision.

Other Incidents
Other incidents in the West Jackson area reported to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office last week included:
•entering an auto at a Royal Crest Drive, Braselton, address, where a man said someone stole a gun and men’s cologne from his company truck. The truck was unlocked at the time of the incident.

•possible suicide attempt at a Creek Nation Road, Jefferson, address, where emergency dispatchers told a deputy to look for a particular building along the road in reference to a possible suicide attempt. A deputy couldn’t find a building matching the description that was given to him. Emergency dispatchers also couldn’t get the person that called 911 to answer a call asking for more information about the location. Emergency dispatchers told the deputy to check on the woman at her residence on Ga. Hwy. 332. A deputy said the residence was empty.

•theft by taking at a Jackson Trail Road, Hoschton, address, where a man said someone stole a metal pipe from a loading area. The pipe had been in the lot for 12 years. The pipe was valued at $200.

•damage to property at a Lewis Sailors Road, Jefferson, address, where a woman said someone painted her mailbox orange and wrote an offensive name on it. The woman believed that a girl that her teenage daughter knows may have been involved. The girl, who works at a Jefferson business, told a deputy that she has an iron used to straighten hair that belongs to the woman’s daughter, but she was keeping it until the daughter returns her $100 that was stolen at a residence. The girl then gave the deputy the straightening iron, but said she didn’t damage the woman’s mailbox. The deputy gave the hair straightening iron to the woman.

•disturbance at a Gum Springs Church Road, Jefferson, address, where a man said a neighbor’s dog doesn’t stop barking until after midnight. The man said he had not talked to his neighbor about the dog. A deputy talked to the neighbor, who said that the dog doesn’t bark all night — only when a vehicle pulls up to a residence. The neighbor then told the deputy that he wanted to file a police report about another man — who was also a neighbor — who broke two windows at his house last year. The neighbor said that when the second neighbor came to his house to work on his lawn mower, it caused rocks to hit the windows and break them. The neighbor said the incident occurred while he was at work.

•theft by taking at a Ga. Hwy. 124, Hoschton, address, where a man at Specialty Stone Supply said someone stole a 2003 Ford F-550 truck from a fenced lot during the evening hours. The store’s employees noticed that the company’s vehicle was missing at the start of a business day. A fresh set of tracks leading to the property was found near the company’s property line.