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Suspects arrested in mailbox vandalism An 18-year-old from Grove Hill and a 17-year-old juvenile were arrested May 1 for a two-week vandalism spree in Clarke County. "A couple of weeks ago, we started getting calls from different places saying mailboxes were being destroyed," said Chief Investigator Ron Baggette of the Clarke County Sheriff's Department. Deputies went from one damaged mailbox to another, and "it kind of left a trail. We determined that it was going to be the same group of people." The window was busted out of a county motorgrader parked on Sugar Creek Road, he said. The windows were also busted out of a mobile home that was being renovated on Regency Drive in Fulton, and the suspects burglarized the home. The stops on the crime spree included Gosport, the Claiborne Landing area, 11 Mile Post Road, County Road 35, Sugar Creek Road, Old Highway 5, Swimming Pool Road, Low Road, and Old Grove Hill Road. The number of mailboxes damaged is close to 100. Arrested were William Todd McHaney, 18, of Grove Hill, and a 17-year-old male juvenile. McHaney was placed in the Clarke County Jail. The juvenile was released to his parents. They were both charged with four counts of criminal mischief, third degree; and a count of burglary, third degree. It began as a joy ride, "just riding and drinking beer," Baggette said. They used a baseball bat to smash the mailboxes. One clue in the investigation was that the suspects were fans of Auburn University. "There were three different mailboxes (at the first site of vanadalism) that were not hit that had Auburn painted on them," he said. At another site, two Auburn mailboxes had also not been damaged. Authorities found evidence at the site of the burglary of the mobile home, which led to the eventual arrest. Several juveniles were interviewed by the Sheriff's Department during the course of the investigation, and Baggette expressed his appreciation at their cooperation and patience, "and my apology for having to drag them through this." The interviews helped authorities narrow down possible suspects. Baggette said the suspects were not involved in the theft of any dogs, as had been mentioned in an article last week.
Sheriff Bobby Moore and Chief Deputy Vergil Chapman also applauded the outstanding work of deputies Chris Whitfield and Michael Jackson in the investigation. There was a lot of odd, overtime hours, Chapman said.
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