Auburn man arrested after stealing car, entering autos

Charged was Devon D. Moon, 23, on six counts of entering auto, one count of possession of a firearm by convicted felon and one count of theft by taking a motor vehicle.

According to a release sent by Auburn Police Lt. Michael Fugett, 911 calls started coming in during the late evening hours July 17 and the early morning hours of July 18 from the Auburn and Dacula areas.

The 911 calls started coming in around 5 a.m., that included a stolen work truck from a residence driveway in the Smiths Creek subdivision.

Auburn Police Cpl. Benny Deutsch and Ofc. James Doss were the shift officers who began the investigation and started taking reports of the thefts as the calls started coming in.

Reports indicate there were at least six vehicles entered and one vehicle stolen in the city of Auburn and at least five vehicles entered in the Dacula area and possibly one burglary committed by this same thief during this period.

The thief apparently discovered the keys in the work truck as he was on foot during the first portion of his theft spree and it was this time he decided to take the truck and continue through Auburn into Dacula entering autos and stealing items.

Officers recovered the stolen vehicle due to a hidden GPS unit on the truck, which ultimately led to the suspect's capture. Authorities report it is company policy to install the hidden GPS units on all of their work vehicles.

Investigators were able to learn from the GPS activity log that the suspect had made at least two trips to the his home during the early morning hours when the thefts occurred as well as travels through the Dacula area where additional thefts occurred.

Some items taken from the vehicles in the Auburn thefts included several GPS units, IPods, several miscellaneous tools, cameras and a loaded .357 cal pistol. The handgun, as well as a majority of the stolen items, including the vehicle, were recovered by APD officers by mid-day Monday.

APD patrol commander Lt. Carl Moulder, along with officers Sgt. Lawrence Wade, Cpl. Benny Deutsch, Ofc. Francisco Villarreal, Ofc. Charles Hubbard, Ofc. Scott Pendergrass and Ofc. Doss were instrumental in the investigation, quick apprehension and recovery of the items, according to reports.

Authorities said readers should be warned that entering auto cases are on the rise and unlocked vehicles are first choice of most thieves. Therefore, vehicles should be locked and/or remove valuable items from the vehicle.

Any Auburn resident who discovers their vehicle had been entered during the night/early morning of Sunday or Monday, July 17-18, are urged to contact Lt. Fuggett at 770-513-8657 Ext 217 if they have not already filed a police report.