3 charged at Chattahoochee NRA Sope Creek after car break-ins

3 charged Chattahoochee NRA car break-ins

Three young adults from Florida were arrested last week near the Sope Creek parking lot of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area on loiter prowling charges after Cobb Police said they were committing car break-ins.

Arrest warrants for Manuel Orellana, Diego Rivera and Yanara Riveros, all of Kissimmee, Fla., indicate they have been charged with loiter prowling, a misdemeanor, and possession of tools for the commission of a crime, a felony.

They are all in their late 20s and were arrested on Aug. 29, the warrants state. They remain in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on $10,000 bonds, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.

The warrants stated that between 1-1:30 p.m. on Aug. 29, the three suspects were sitting in a vehicle in the Sope Creek parking lot of the Chattahoochee NRA (3726 Paper Mill Road).

The officer who took out the warrant was in a patrol car in the parking lot, and wrote that the accused were “in a place at a time or in a manner not usual for law-abiding individuals under circumstances that warranted a justifiable and reasonable alarm or immediate concern for the safety of persons and property in the vicinity.”

The vehicle the suspects were riding in began to back out of a parking space, and someone noticed the patrol car, according to the warrants.

The vehicle, identified in the warrants as a GMC Terrain with Florida plates, then pulled into a parking spot, and the individuals went for a walk, the warrants allege.

Upon returning from the walk, the Terrain left the park but was pulled over due to what police said was a failure to maintain a lane of traffic, according to the warrants.

The Sheriff’s Office booking reports indicate the arrests were made in the Paper Mill/Terrell Mill Road area.

The warrants further states that the officer searched the vehicle after detecting a marijuana odor, and found marijuana and THC vaping cartridges.

The officer also said in the warrants that screwdrivers were found in the Terrain, as was a cylinder from a vehicle door lock.

Also discovered during the search were four gift cards, “common proceeds from entering autos,” according to the warrants.

The warrants state that the suspects gave conflicting stories on where the gift cards came from and how the tools got there, but that all three said they were in the area visiting local parks and sports arenas for “tourism.”

The warrants said that one of the suspects told police they broke into a car at another park, and also had done so in Florida before coming to Georgia.

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