South Georgia sheriff warns of robbers

Published 1:05 pm Wednesday, June 26, 2019

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Colquitt County Sheriff Rod Howell is warning the community about armed robbers who appear to be targeting Latinos in Colquitt, Tift and Cook counties.

Howell posted the warning to the sheriff’s office Facebook page on Tuesday morning.

“The suspects are described as two black males, slender build, with short hair twist,” the post states. “During these armed robberies the suspects have been seen driving a green extended cab pick up truck and a black car. If you see anything suspicious or any suspicious activity, please contact 911 immediately. If you have any information about these attempted robberies, please contact Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 229-616-7460. Please feel free to share this post so we can help inform our citizens! Stay safe and always be aware of your surroundings.”

At least three incidents have been reported to the sheriff’s office, one of which involved gunfire. They may or may not be related to one another, and they may or may not be related to some similar incidents in Tift and Cook counties, investigators said.

The first of the three incidents took place at 9:40 p.m. Saturday in the 200 block of Coy Cox Road, near Omega.

Delfino Rodriguez reported that $1,240 and a Samsung Note 4 were stolen from field workers who work for him.

Colquitt County Investigator Nathan Cato said two black males approached 12 people in the yard of the residence and ordered them to the ground at gunpoint.

One of the robbers went into the residence, Cato said, and struck one victim on the head with his gun.

At some point one or two shots were fired, and everyone on the ground got up and ran, Cato said.

The robbers ran from there to the intersection of Coy Cox Road and Hannah Lee Drive, got into a vehicle and took off, he said.

Cato said similar incidents have been reported in Tift and Cook counties.

“We’re trying to make sure it’s not the same people,” he said.

The second Colquitt County report differs significantly in details, so it may not be linked to the first.

Selvin Oliva, 200 block Circle Road, told deputies he was awakened by a loud noise just before 2 a.m. Monday. When he went to investigate, he saw someone standing in his dining room.

Oliva asked the person what he wanted. Without saying anything, the man hit Oliva in the forehead with an unknown object then ran out of the house.

The responding deputy found the rear door of the house had been forced open.

Oliva described the man as 5-feet-8 to 5-feet-10-inches tall with a slim to medium build. The man was wearing a dark gray long-sleeve shirt, dark jeans, white gloves and a ski mask. Because he was covered up the way he was, Oliva couldn’t tell what race he might have been.

The third incident, which took place Monday night, involved different men who worked for Delfino Rodriguez.

Rodriguez called law enforcement after some of his workers in the 6100 block of Highway 37 East saw a suspicious vehicle.

As Rodriguez and one of the workers described it to the deputy, a dark-colored, two-door sedan with a long wheel-base approached from the direction of Moultrie, turned off its headlights and turned into the driveway of the workers’ residence.

The worker said they all ran inside the house and turned off the lights.

Two black men got out of the car, the worker said. One of them, a young man in brown shorts and a gray hoodie went up to the door of the house and tried to get in.

Unsuccessful, they got back in the car and drove back toward Moultrie.

The witness said residents never saw a weapon and nothing was taken.

Patrol units were given a description of the vehicle, but they did not make contact with it, the deputy’s report said.