News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Two gang members from Nashville connected to vandalism and a car theft in Putnam County arrested in Mt. Juliet and subsequently admitted to their crimes.
Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said the case began in the mid-western part of the county with a string of vandalism, theft from vehicles, and a stolen car in late February. Farris said the investigation started in the county and spread outwards until the individuals were found in the Mt. Juliet area.
“They actually just simply got on Google and googled some high-end residential areas and houses and that’s really how they ended up where they did here in our county,” Farris said. “So you never know how these individuals think.”
Farris said gang activity does come to Putnam County from Nashville, but it does not show up with any sort of regularity on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis. Farris said his office keeps a close watch on the underground activity within the county through uncover officers and other investigative resources.
“We don’t have any of these gangs actually staying here and living here and proclaiming Putnam County to be their home,” Farris said.
Farris said gang activity is more often seen in the drug scene rather than with car burglaries. Farris said there were three individuals involved with the original crimes but only two were apprehended by the Mt. Juliet Police Department.
“We have over three hundred churches listed here in this county,” Farris said. “And what that says is we have a lot, a lot of good people, a lot of kind people, a lot of trustworthy people. So sometimes the bad actors want to come in and try to take advantage of that.”
Farris said the thing that concerned his office most about the three suspects was a photograph from a local citizen that showed one of the subjects with what looked like a firearm.
“Of course we’re trying to tie it back into maybe somebody they disliked or somebody they knew that could have been helping them here in the county, but that does not appear to be the case on this one,” Farris said.
