The Tri-County Journal
& Chattahoochee Chronicle
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Buena Vista, GA 31803
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Investigation begins on recent vandalism of police cars
Community Calendars |
By RICHARD HARRIS
(From the Nov. 1, 2006 issue)
The new Municipal Police Department of Cusseta-Chattahoochee County expects to have five police cars ready for service this week, but they won’t be coming from the dealer they originally chose to purchase them from. That dealer, Southern Interceptors, withdrew from a verbal agreement and is now refusing to do business with the local government.
As reported in last week’s issue, Southern Interceptors of Cedar Point, North Carolina had prepared five cars for the police department, but they were vandalized the night before they were to be delivered. The Unified Government had agreed to pay for the vehicles the day they were shipped, so the dealer took a financial loss, as the damage to the vehicles rendered them undeliverable.
The dealer reportedly returned the cars to the auction company they had purchased them from, but at a loss of around $20,000. But it
“They told me they consider it too dangerous to do business with us,” said County Manager Elvin Hardy to local commissioners in a special meeting held on Oct. 23 to discuss the incident.
Hardy told commissioners that personnel of Southern Interceptors said that prior to the incident, they received phone calls from a Chattahoochee County person who with a “very rude and demanding attitude” asked many questions about the purchase order for the vehicles, as well as specific questions about the types of vehicles being purchased and the equipment they would be outfitted with.
Hardy said Southern Interceptors did identify the person who had asked the questions, but one commissioner noted that anyone could claim to be someone else in a telephone conversation, and the newspaper is not releasing the name of the alleged caller.
Hardy also told commissioners the dealer said it had received an email in which “someone from down here was canceling the order,
Hardy told commissioners that the dealer said, “We’ve talked to our attorney. We’re not giving you anything. We’re not going to sell vehicles to you. … We just don’t want to have anything to do with y’all down there.”
Southern Interceptors now says that in keeping with legal advise, they will not be releasing any further details about the incident unless they are legally ordered to do so. It may come to that, as commissioners unanimously agreed to have the Cusseta-Chattahoochee County police chief launch an investigation into the incident, instructing him to involve whatever outside agencies could be helpful.
Chief Ken Suddeth has since met with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, but the GBI said it was not the proper agency to lend assistance since the crime took place in North Carolina. The chief and Hardy were scheduled to meet with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday, Oct. 31.