Clarkesville police arrested two people over the weekend and charged them with theft for allegedly stealing an employee’s purse from a local restaurant. Police identified the suspects as Luther Newel Mize and Linda Waddell Thompson, both of the same address in Demorest.
Police credit Now Habersham readers with helping them locate the couple. They were arrested on Saturday, February 5, less than 24 hours after a story with surveillance photos of them was published to nowhabersham.com and shared on social media. Clarkesville Police Chief Brad Barrett says after the article asking for help to identify the couple was published, people started phoning in tips.
“Through investigation, we did find both to be in possession of articles associated with the stolen purse. The female received notification from an unwitting party that she was being sought. At that point, she attempted to turn the purse in at the sheriff’s office and stated in the interview that this was her intention all along. However, she had already taken credit cards and other items from the purse,” says Chief Barrett.
Police executed a search warrant at the couple’s home. “We were able to locate a quantity of items belonging to the victim, specifically, credit cards and other related items,” Barrett says.
Surveillance video reportedly showed Thompson walking out of the Wendy’s in Clarkesville with the purse, which an employee had left in a booth while she went to help customers.
The couple then left in a red Mini Cooper convertible.
Officers charged both of them with theft of lost or mislaid property. A judge set Thompson’s bond at $1,200 but did not set a bond for Mize. Both have since been released from jail.
Pitts Park purse thefts
What happened at Wendy’s is just the latest incident in Clarkesville involving the theft of unattended valuables. Police are still looking into the theft of two purses at Pitts Park earlier this month. According to one of the victims, a man smashed her car window while she was walking at the park. He stole her purse and another from the car next to hers which was reportedly unlocked.
Speculation circulated on social media that the Pitts Park purse thief may have been the same man who wrecked his Jeep several days later on Fairview School Road. That man, Devin Mullinax, was wanted on an outstanding drug warrant. Barrett insists he was not involved in the park thefts.
“We established very quickly a solid alibi on that guy [Mullinax]. We know where he was and have confirmation of it. There’s no way that he could have been at the park at the time. He has absolutely nothing to do with that theft,” Barrett says.
Heightened awareness and patrols
As unfortunate and unsettling as they are, these recent thefts are good reminders, police say, of the importance of securing your valuables in public. Don’t leave purses, wallets, cellphones, or other valuables in unlocked vehicles or in plain sight inside locked vehicles.
“When people see something of value openly laying in a vehicle it’s not uncommon for someone to take it,” says Barrett. He says smash and grabs are less common than stealing from unlocked cars but, as the recent incident at Pitts Park shows, they happen too.
“We’re doing everything we can to try to take measures to rectify some of the issues at Pitts Park,” Barrett says. “We’ve heightened our patrol in that area. We do want people to feel safe in the park and stuff like that shouldn’t be happening. We’re doing everything we can to combat it and we’re investigating every single lead that we get.”
If you have any information on either the Wendy’s or Pitts Park thefts or if you know the couple in this surveillance photo, please contact the Clarkesville Police Department at (706) 754-5390.
