‘Armed burglary’ — 3 armed men broke into occupied home
Update – Aug. 5: Peachtree City Police reported that three residents were in the home when three men entered the house carrying handguns.
Original Story: Three or more suspects are on the loose after an Aug. 2 armed home invasion off Blue Smoke Trail in Peachtree City that left some family members within the home with minor injures. Police provided few details of the crime.
The official police department description of the invasion is “armed burglary,” a category of crime that does not exist in Georgia law. The actual event involved armed men who broke into an occupied home in the residential heart of Peachtree City and who apparently roughed up those inside before leaving in a van stolen from the occupants.
Peachtree City Police Department spokesman Mark Brown said three or more armed males forced entry into a residence off Blue Smoke Trail around midnight on Aug. 2 after some of the residents returned home after closing their restaurant business in another county.
Brown said injuries were sustained by some of the several residents at home during the incident, adding that those injured were treated and released at the scene. No description of the perpetrators is available, Brown said.
The suspects took cash, jewelry, cell phones and a vehicle, Brown said.
A 2011 Honda Odyssey van stolen during the home invasion was subsequently found in Union City, Brown said.
Brown in a televised interview went to some lengths to reassure residents that the “armed burglary” targeted a specific home and was not indicative of a random break-in. He urged business people who leave work with large sums of money to call the department for an armed escort.
Blue Smoke Trail connects Aberdeen Village to Kedron Village in Peachtree City, just south of Lake Kedron and a short distance from Ga. Highway 74 North off Kedron Drive. The neighborhood contains homes valued in the $300,000 to $400,000 range, according to real estate listings.
The Citizen made several attempts to gather additional information pertaining to the home invasion, such as the actual number of perpetrators and the extent of injuries to the home’s residents, information about a video from Union City authorities believed to be linked to the Peachtree City invasion, but was unable to obtain that information from the police department.
The Georgia charge of armed home invasion is punishable by not less than 10 years to as much as life in prison. Georgia law does not list the offense of “armed burglary.”
