Clayton News Daily

By Michael Davis

mdavis@news-daily.com

Clayton County police are looking for two guns stolen from the trunk of a police car early Thursday morning, and several bullet-resistant vests taken from a sheriff's office car, and the car of a soldier's wife.

The break-ins occurred at apartment complexes in close proximity to one another, Clayton County Police Lt. Rebecca Brown said.

According to a police report, a Clayton County police car parked at the front of an apartment complex on Monterey Circle in Jonesboro was broken into on Thursday sometime between 12:30 and 6:30 a.m. Someone bent the window and door frame of the front passenger door, and, once inside, apparently released the trunk lid, according to the report. In the trunk were a Heckler and Koch sub-machine gun and a Bushmaster machine gun, each valued at about $2,000.

Also on Monterey Circle, a woman told police that someone had broken into her Dodge Charger on the same morning at the Monterey Village Apartments. She told police her husband's bullet-resistant vest and ballistic plates were taken, along with her spousal military ID card, a couple of handbags and some other items.

Also on Thursday morning, police responded to a report of a Clayton County Sheriff's Office car being broken into at the Highland Manor Apartments. According to a police report, two bullet-resistant vests - at least one emblazoned with "Sheriff" on the back - were taken from the car at the complex on Upper Riverdale Road. The police report says the deputy told police that the suspect had apparently tried to take a shotgun off a rack behind the headrests of the vehicle, but was unsuccessful.

The report indicates that the driver-side window of the car appeared to have been pried open and the door unlocked.

Brown said Monday that police believe the break-ins are related and that detectives were following up on several leads.