WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Disorganized crime: Vidalia police bust racketeering ring
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VIDALIA, GA (WTOC) - Vidalia police detectives and local prosecutors call the arrests of 20 people Monday their first racketeering case ever.
Police chief Frank Waits says the suspects took part in stealing anything they could get their hands on or could sell on the street.
"People were giving them a Christmas shopping list," Waits explained. "You'd say, 'I want a Kenwood with a CD player, dual speakers.' They'd find it, steal it and you'd get it at a discount price."
In addition, police seized firearms of every description. They arrested their suspects Monday, the same day a grand jury heard the racketeering indictments. District attorney Hayward Altman said "organized crime" isn't always as organized as it looks in the movies.
"They were dealing in burglaries, theft by taking, motor vehicle thefts, entering autos, violation of Georgia control substance act a variety of crimes," he noted.
Chief Waits said the thefts stretch across Vidalia as well as Toombs, Montgomery and Emanuel counties. Half of the suspects come from one Toombs County family, the McKinney's.
Family friend Pamela Carter was the most vocal among a group that showed up to defend them at a police news conference.
"They're not like that. They're not like that at all. They work hard all their lives," she exclaimed. "One of those brothers is deathly ill, but he's still trying to work to take care of the family."
But police called their suspects "parasites" on the community.
"People who support these folks selling drugs and stealing from people just condone domestic terrorism," the chief contended. "We send soldiers overseas to fight foreign terrorism. Well, we're trying to defend the home front."
Waits said people shopping for illegal deals will need to find their bargains somewhere else. Besides those arrested Monday, investigators found several suspects in other jails on unrelated charges. Two suspects remained at large.
He and Altman credited assistance on the case to the Toombs County Sheriff's Office, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Emanuel County Sheriff's Office, Lyons Police, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Natural Resources, Georgia State Patrol and the United States Marshall's Office.
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