Three individuals were taken into custody after neighbors in the Ashton Woods subdivision in Martinez spotted them in the early hours of Jan. 8 attempting to break into cars.
Only one suspect, Daron Wright, 17, of Richmond County, has been identified. He is is currently being held without bond on two charges of entering an auto, according to a press release from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. The other two suspects are male juveniles, ages 15 and 16, who were transported to the Regional Youth Detention Center.
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Multiple Columbia County police units were dispatched to the area around 5:30 a.m., and the canine unit was brought in after the young men were seen fleeing into a wooded area.
A perimeter was secured, leaving the suspects with no way out of the neighborhood. Officers armed with assault rifles manned every corner and cul-de-sac.
A white Toyota Highlander was located in front of 170 Evergreen Drive. The vehicle was determined to be stolen out of Richmond County, according to Major Steve Morris of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
Once caught, the suspects, who an eyewitness described as being dressed all in black, confessed to stealing the Toyota Highlander, according to the press release.
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Several cell phones were also seized from the suspects and search warrants were obtained to determine if these three suspects had entered any other autos in Columbia County.
The investigation is on-going, and more charges are pending, according to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
Neighbors in the quiet community off Columbia Road were shocked to see such a massive police presence in their neighborhood as they awoke and began their day.
Heather Chiero says that her daughter left their home located on Creekview Court on her motorcycle and that she herself headed out a few minutes later. When she saw the first police car, Chiero says she worried her daughter had been pulled over for driving her motorcycle too fast.
After she passed the first police unit and turned onto Creekview Circle, Chiero says she saw a sea of police vehicles.
“There were men in flack suits with attack dogs and automatic weapons. It looked like something from a dystopian movie. I couldn’t believe this was happening in our neighborhood. I mean, it’s mostly old people who live here,” Chiero said.
Chiero started to inquire what was going on, but the looks on the officers’ faces convinced her to leave them alone, she said.
“Generally, this is a pretty boring little neighborhood, but when things do happen, they tend to be a bit crazy. First we had the teenagers having sex in the road, and now we have a SWAT team descending on us. But I am thankful the officers were vigilant and on-the-ball,” Chiero said.
In 2017, the Ashton Woods neighborhood made the news when two teenagers were seen naked and having sex in the middle of the road while children stood nearby waiting on their school bus, according to news reports from the time.
