An Eatonton man’s SUV was stolen at a home he visited in Putnam County in September. The investigation that ensued seemed to follow twists and turns throughout the South before an arrest was made, and the accused is now in jail at Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.
Reports from PCSO reveal that Robert Dodson and a friend went to a home on Bluegill Road on Thursday, Sept. 12, to pick up a washing machine and dryer, which they had paid $50 to purchase. They talked to the property owner's granddaughter and two grandsons, who told them they could look inside the mobile home.
When the two men walked back outside, Dodson’s 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe and his dog were gone. The granddaughter and grandsons also were no longer there, Deputy Angela Jordan wrote in her report.
A neighbor on Bluegill Road told Jordan that squatters had been living in the mobile home about a month ago, and before that, the teen grandchildren lived there but had moved to Tennessee about a year ago. The neighbor pulled up a social media photo of the girl and identified her as Angelina Barr.
Dodson and his friend looked at the photo and said she was the one they had paid for the washer and dryer, and who had told them to go inside the house.
Jordan listed the stolen Tahoe’s information on the Georgia Crime Information Center on Sept. 13. The next day, Putnam Sheriff’s Sgt. Justin Brock received notification that the SUV had been recovered in Asheboro, North Carolina.
The Asheboro police officer told Brock she had responded to a theft of alcohol call at a Dollar General store. The suspects were three teens driving a Tahoe that fit the description of Dodson’s vehicle. The Asheboro officer later saw the Tahoe and attempted to pull it over, “but it fled,” according to Brock’s report.
“(The officer) gave chase to the Tahoe, but due to the recklessness of the driver, the chase was terminated,” Brock’s report reveals. “Earlier this morning, she located the Tahoe abandoned and out of gas in the Quality Inn parking lot.”
The officer sent Brock photos of the three suspects from the Dollar General and Quality Inn security cameras. A check on GCIC revealed the girl was Angelina Barr, who was listed as a missing juvenile out of Johnson City, Tennessee. Brock called Johnson City authorities, who told him Barr had contacted her grandmother a few days earlier and said she was going to Kentucky to see her mother.
So Brock went to Putnam County jail and spoke to Angelina’s father, who was incarcerated at the time. Darrell Barr confirmed Angelina’s identity in the photos and also said other family members lived in Asheboro, N.C., and Bowling Green, Kentucky.
A warrant was issued for Angelina Barr’s arrest. On Nov. 2, Jordan went to Franklin County, Georgia, to pick up Barr from the jail there.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said Barr and another juvenile male had been pulled over in Carnesville for a traffic violation. When Barr’s name came up in the GCIC check, she was detained, and the PCSO was notified.
Angelina Marie Barr, 17, of Eatonton, is facing charges of felony theft by taking and is being held without bond. According to Brock's report, Barr will face charges in Asheboro, N.C., following the completion of her case in Putnam County.