A suspicious-looking man standing in the rain in Habersham County set off an investigation into stolen mail from across North Georgia and Florida.
Habersham County deputies arrested 25-year-old Dylan Gage Shope Thursday morning. At the time, they say he had at least 100 pieces of mail in his possession from as far south as New Port Richey, Florida, and as far north as Blairsville, Georgia.
A 911 caller unknowingly tipped off authorities to the alleged crimes when they phoned in asking for a welfare check after spotting a man standing in the rain on Black Snake Road.
“He was standing outside in the rain not wearing the clothing one would expect him to be wearing in the soaking wet and cold,” says Habersham County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Kevin Angell.
When officers arrived on the scene, the man, later identified as Shope, took off running, Angell says, but he didn’t get far. “He unknowingly surrendered to an officer in an unmarked vehicle thinking it would be someone who could give him a ride out of that area.”
Demorest ties
According to police, Shope used to live in Demorest. The day before his arrest, an officer spotted him in his old neighborhood in the vicinity of Long, Stone, and Maryland Streets behind Demorest Elementary School.
“We’ve had a couple of reports of just suspicious activity in that area; people on foot that were suspicious,” says Demorest Police Chief Robin Krockum. “We stepped up patrols in that area, and yesterday one of our officers came across this same Mr. Shope, but he didn’t have anything on him at that time that warranted any further investigation.”
When deputies arrested Shope on February 3 he was carrying 27 pieces of mail with him from Demorest, says Krockum. County investigators turned that mail over to the Demorest Police Department. Officers there have charged Shope with two felony counts of theft by possession of stolen mail. That’s a relatively new charge now allowed under the porch piracy law passed last year in Georgia. The law stipulates that each set of ten separate pieces of stolen mail addressed to three or more different mailboxes or addresses constitutes a “separate and distinct crime.” Each count carries with it the possibility of one to five years in prison and at least a $1,000 fine.
Deputies also recovered six pieces of stolen mail from three different addresses in Cornelia. “They brought the mail to us and the guys are returning it,” says Cornelia Police Chief Chad Smith.
Shope did not have any packages on him, but Angell says some of the stolen mail contained checks and other information that could lead to identity theft. Investigators are looking into potential fraud charges.
“It’s an ongoing investigation. There will be additional charges,” he says. “We’re just still finding out the totality of how many people are affected by this.”
The swift work of our patrol deputies with the help of our property investigators led to the arrest of Shope and hopefully the end of a mail theft crime spree in Habersham County.
-Kevin Angell, HCSO PIO
Far-reaching crime spree
In addition to Demorest and Cornelia, investigators have cataloged stolen mail from at least 13 other locations including Banks County, Blairsville, Cleveland, Dacula, Dawsonville, Gainesville, Marietta, Maysville, Murrayville, Sugar Hill, Toccoa, Young Harris, as well as New Port Richey, Florida. Detectives are working to develop a timeline for when the mail was stolen and are asking for the community’s help.
“At this point, we’re asking the community to let us know if they have any unreported missing mail or if they believe their home may have been burglarized and mail stolen from them,” says Angell. Investigators are also asking anyone with information about Shope to please contact the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Unit at 706-839-0500.
As for the rest of the recovered mail, Angell says detectives will be reaching out to the rightful owners. “Things that don’t have to be kept as evidence, we will be returning as appropriate.”
Chief Krockum and Chief Smith both say mail theft is rare in their jurisdictions. They encourage anyone who suspects their mail has been stolen to contact the Post Office and police. Krockum also encourages residents to keep an eye out and to report it if they see anything suspicious. He adds, “I appreciate the work that the sheriff’s office has done in working with us.”
Angell credits the break in this case to those officers who answered that early morning 911 call.
“The swift work of our patrol deputies with the help of our property investigators led to the arrest of Shope and hopefully the end of a mail theft crime spree in Habersham County”
