Crime & Safety

Employee Injured Trying to Stop Metal Theft, Warrants Issued for Alleged Thief

Incident occurred at a Braselton Highway construction site.

Gwinnett County Police have obtained two warrants against an Auburn man in connection with a June 19 theft at a Dacula construction site.

On June 19, a construction company employee arrived at work and discovered a red pickup truck loaded with tin at the Braselton Highway construction site. The employee asked the driver of the truck what he was doing with the tin and the man reportedly claimed someone had given him permission to take it.

The employee informed the driver that no one with the construction company would have given him permission to take the metal.

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“[The employee] told me the male put the truck in reverse while he was standing behind it,” the officer wrote in the report. “[The employee] advised he told the male several times to not hit him with his truck.”

The male reportedly continued to back the truck, striking the construction worker on the arm as he drove away from the scene. According to the report, the construction work had small cuts on his arm as a result of the incident.

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The construction worker called police as the truck was leaving and provided a description of the vehicle and a tag number.

Six days later, a GCPD detective obtained two warrants -- one for theft by taking and one for aggravated assault -- against Richard Darren Atha of Auburn in connection with the metal theft.  Further details regarding the investigation are not available.

As of July 1, Atha had not been booked into the Gwinnett County Jail.

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