Ashley Hunter
Greene Publishing, Inc.
Beginning in early June, the Lake Park, Ga., Police Department (LPPD) began investigating a series of burglaries and car break-ins in the Lake Park area. The crimes began as a group of shed break-ins, where the suspect illegally entered the structure and stole various tools and equipment from the shed. Shortly thereafter, around mid-June, the crimes escalated into home break-ins. Due to the direct nature of the burglaries, the LPPD was led to believe that the criminal was familiar enough with the homes to know exactly what he wanted and where the items were located.
Around the same time, Lake Park was experiencing a number of vehicle break-ins.
The LPPD began working with the homeowner who had items stolen from them in a series of covert operations and had discovered that much of the stolen lawn equipment and tools were being sold in a Lake Park flea market. Upon questioning the flea market booth owners, it was revealed that the equipment was purchased from Christopher Brad Sconyers, 26 of Lake Park, Ga. The LPPD then went to the booth owners home in Suwannee County to investigate. There, officers discovered a large amount of lawn mowers, chainsaws and firearms being stored for eventual resale, and many appeared to have been stolen.
Following their investigation of the flea market booth owners, Sconyers was arrested by the LPPD on Saturday, July 9, upon suspicion of being the culprit of the break-ins and thefts. According to the LPPD, the flea market booth owners are currently not facing any charges, but the investigation is still on-going.
After his arrest, Sconyers admitted to two burglaries in Georgia, the vehicle break-ins and an unrevealed number of home burglaries in Madison County. The addresses and owners of the homes Sconyers broke into have not been released.
However, much of the stolen items from the Lake Park burglaries have been recovered.
The investigations into Sconyers' crimes continues while Sconyers is currently held on bond at the Lowndes County Jail, with two charges of burglary at the time of press.