The Dalton Police Department is asking for the public’s help to identify the suspect in an October 25^th armed robbery at a convenience store. Shortly after the robbery in Dalton, the same suspect robbed another convenience store in Calhoun, Georgia. The suspect was photographed in both locations by store surveillance.

The incident happened at approximately 3:45 am at the West Walnut RaceTrac convenience store. The suspect, a black male wearing a black Adidas track suit with white stripes with a gold chain and a black stocking cap, entered the store and picked up a pack of gum before approaching the counter. The suspect asked the clerk for a pack of cigarettes behind the counter, and while the clerk’s back was turned the suspect produced a handgun which he held low against the counter. The suspect demanded cash, and left the store with approximately $150.

Shortly after the Dalton incident, at approximately 4:30 am, an armed robbery was reported at a Circle K convenience store in Calhoun. Surveillance video shows the same suspect wearing the same track suit, only this time the suspect was wearing a blue and yellow Golden State Warriors toboggan hat.

Anyone who recognizes this suspect or who has information on these crimes is asked to please contact Detective Charles Williams at 706-278-9085, dial 9280.

Below: The suspect was recorded by store surveillance in both Dalton and Calhoun (click thumbnails to see a larger version of the image)

The Dalton Police Department is asking for the public’s help to identify a man officers believe took cash from a wallet dropped in the Walmart parking lot. The wallet was later turned in to the store, without the cash inside.

The incident happened on October 12^th at the Shugart Road Walmart. Shortly after 6:30 pm, a woman using the self-checkout put her wallet back inside of her purse, but failed to secure it. After loading her groceries into her vehicle, the woman left the store only to realize later that she’d lost her wallet, apparently dropping it in the parking lot. When she returned to the store, she found that her wallet had been turned in, but the $1,000 in cashe that was left inside was missing.

Surveillance video from the store shows a gold pickup truck that pulled into her parking spot after she left. The driver of the truck, a heavy set white male wearing an orange t-shirt, is shown on video bending over to pick up an item in the parking spot and then pausing for several seconds. The man then walked into the store and walked around for a few minutes before leaving without making a purchase. Shortly after the man left the item in the parking lot, a woman walking out of the store is seen on surveillance video spotting and picking up the wallet and then turning it in to the store.

The man investigators suspect took the cash from the wallet is a heavyset white male with a goatee who wore an orange t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flop sandals. A picture of the suspect is included below. Anyone who recognizes the man is asked to please contact Officer David Marcus at 706-278-9085, extension 9609 or by email at [email protected].

Below: The man was recorded by store surveillance

DPD Officers Honored For Life-Saving Efforts

Two officers from the Dalton Police Department were honored with the agency’s Life Saving Award Tuesday morning at the monthly meeting of the Dalton Public Safety Commission. Officers Josh Bethune and Benjamin Porter were honored for their efforts during a rescue call in August.

On August 22^nd, officers were dispatched to Park Canyon Apartments to a call of an older man who was unconscious and not breathing. Officers Bethune and Porter arrived on scene and found the patient had no pulse and was not breathing. The officers began performing CPR on the patient. After performing several rounds of CPR, the patient regained a faint pulse and was turned over to emergency medical technicians who had arrived on scene. The patient was then transported to the hospital.

Though the patient eventually passed away, the police department is proud of the life-saving efforts of the officers who were able to help give him a fighting chance.

DPD Assistant Chief Chris Crossen (left) poses with Officers Josh Bethune and Benjamin Porter after presentation of the agency’s Life Saving Award

The Dalton Public Safety Commission is comprised of Chairman William B. Weaver, Terry Mathis, Anthony Walker, Keith Whitworth, and Kenneth E. Willis.

An investigation of a string of 29 entering auto cases in Dalton has led to the arrests of two men and warrants issued for the arrest of a third. The crimes took place over the course of three weeks in Dalton. The three suspects are all from the Chattanooga, Tennessee area.

Between September 21^st and October 7^th, the Dalton Police Department received 29 reports of entering auto cases in apartment complexes and neighborhoods along Crow Valley Road, including Brady Drive, Brothers Lane, and Cobblestone Creek. In each case, the vehicles entered had been left unlocked by owners with valuables inside. Cell phones, wallets, cash, laptop computers, and guns were among the items stolen from the vehicles. There were also four vehicles that were left with the keys inside, and those vehicles were stolen.

Detectives from the DPD’s Criminal Investigations Division began to work on the cases after the initial group of entering auto cases on the weekend of September 21^st. Detectives were able to develop links between physical evidence recovered and the three suspects. Additionally, when one of the four stolen cars was recovered after being located in Chattanooga, one of the suspects had left his cell phone inside. The investigation ultimately led to warrants for the arrest of Arnellus Johnson, 18, of Greenwood Road in Chattanooga, Marchant Robinson, 18, of Orchard Knob Avenue in Chattanooga, and Quadarius Johnson, 19, of Rubio Street in Chattanooga. Each is charged with 29 counts of entering autos, four counts of felony theft (automobile), and one count of racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO). Arnellus Johnson and Marchant Robinson were both arrested by the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office on charges in that jurisdiction and also the Dalton Police Department’s warrants. Quadarius Johnson is still at large.

These incidents are still under investigation and further charges are possible against the three suspects. Investigators with the DPD are working with other agencies in Tennessee to determine where else these suspects may have been active. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Quadarius Johnson is asked to please contact Detective Jacob Burger at 706-278-9085, extension 9325.

Below (from left to right): Arrestees Arnellus Johnson, Marchant Robinson, and suspect at large Quadarius Johnson

For the second year in a row, the Dalton Police Department is celebrating a win in the annual Governor’s Challenge. The annual competition sponsored by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) honors outstanding achievement in traffic safety education and enforcement. Dalton’s win comes in Category 4 which includes municipal police departments with between 51 and 100 sworn officers.

Competing agencies are judged each year for enforcement programs, educational initiatives, and public information efforts in three categories: occupant safety, speed enforcement, and DUI detection/prevention. In the past year, Dalton’s Traffic Enforcement Unit (TEU) has engaged in several education campaigns in Dalton’s schools to inform students about distracted driving and driving under the influence. The TEU took part in the Teen Maze event that educates young drivers about the impact of dangerous driving behaviors and choices like drinking and driving. While the TEU is focused on traffic issues, the efforts of the department’s patrol division as a whole contributed to the different education and enforcement initiatives and their efforts are recognized by this award. The GOHS also considers the work that police agencies do with their local public works departments to try to improve roads or intersections that are especially prone to crashes.

This was the Dalton Police Department’s 19^th year taking part in the Governor’s Challenge and the agency’s third win. The DPD previously took top honors in 2017-18 and 2013-14 in addition to earning multiple second and third-place finishes over the years. The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office placed second behind Dalton followed by the Crisp County Sheriff’s Office in third. In addition to the overall award, the Dalton Police Department also earned the Governor’s Challenge Speed Award, for having the state’s outstanding speed education and enforcement campaign.

Below: Sergeant Woody Cantrell (left) and Officer David Saylors (right) show off the awards they brought home as members of the DPD’s Traffic Unit after winning the annual Governor’s Challenge