Pipe stolen from school construction site found at Fayetteville business

The owner of Sweet Returns Recycling in downtown Fayetteville has been arrested by sheriff’s deputies for failing to keep records on customers who sold more than four and a half tons of metal to his business, according to warrants for his arrest.

Gordan Paul Sommers, 54, of Bellender Drive in Peachtree City, is charged with 12 felonies, records indicate.

According to Georgia law, metal recyclers must keep a record of the name, address and ID card or driver’s license number of the person submitting the metals. Also, recyclers must record the customer’s vehicle tag number, the type of vehicle and which state the tag of the vehicle is issued to.

Detectives discovered 18 inch metal pipe that was stolen from a school construction site on Tillman Road and also other pipe that was taken from several residences near the school site several weeks ago, detectives said.

Sweet Returns didn’t keep any identifying information on the 18-year-old who sold the large pipe, which was later matched to the pipe that was at the school construction site, detectives said.

According to the warrants Sommers bought a total of 9,371 pounds of metals including copper, aluminum and brass connected to the charges. In all 12 cases deputies allege that Sommers failed to get the necessary information on the seller.

The arrest was made in conjunction with an undercover investigation sparked after another man was pulled over by deputies and found to have a vehicle load of copper, detectives said.
Deputies questioned why he was driving past several recycling businesses on his way to Sweet Returns.

The man replied: “That guy don’t ask no questions,” detectives told The Citizen.

Seven of the incidents took place in July, though one dates back to December; In all but one of the cases, the person who made the metal sale has been identified by sheriff’s detectives, according to the warrants.

Detectives seized the company’s records and determined that none of the 2,000 entries were fully accurate; in many cases they were missing a tag number or the type of vehicle the customer drove up in, detectives said.

Sweet Returns is located at 205 Georgia Avenue in downtown Fayetteville near Walker Concrete.

In 2004 a City of Atlanta worker was arrested there for selling hundreds of pounds worth of unpainted street and traffic signs.

Officials in recent months have noted the pervasive amount of thefts that have been ongoing of metals from multiple locations in the county, including occupied and unoccupied homes. Churches have also had their air conditioning units stripped of copper.

Thieves have also targeted catalytic converters in automobiles, stealing them so the metal inside can be sold to recyclers.

Det. Aaron Fenimore of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office is the lead investigator on the case.