One of a recent number of Fairburn burglaries was solved last week with the arrest of a Fairburn man wanted on prior charges for property crimes.

Horace Newson, Jr., 22, was charged with one count of burglary in the Fireside Way residence incident, according to Det. Sgt. Ben Pace. Also a resident of the Fireside area, Newson was arrested after a latent fingerprint obtained at the residence matched his fingerprint record, Pace added.

The burglary occurred Sept. 28, according to police reports. The resident said she returned home after work, accompanied by her mother, and saw a man standing behind the bushes in her yard. The man left the area as they arrived. The woman and her mother entered the house to find the living room ransacked, the kitchen door open and damaged and a bathroom window broken, reports said. They found other rooms ransacked and determined that a number of items were missing. The woman called Fairburn Police and was able to provide a description of the man and what he was wearing, reports indicated.

Chief Charles Long said Tuesday that Newson had several prior arrests involving property crimes and was wanted on a probation violation involving prior charges for property crimes.

Pace said Tuesday that when interviewed, Newson admitted to the burglary, adding that he targeted the homes of White and Hispanic residents, but not the homes of the elderly or Black residents. Long added that the city has had a problem in recent months with burglaries of the homes of Hispanic residents. The Fireside Way house burglarized Sept. 28 was the residence of an Hispanic family.

“We think we’ve interrupted a trend in burglaries,” Long told City Council members at the Oct. 24 meeting, referencing a string of burglaries in the city between May and September. Citing the example of a rash of car thefts earlier in the year that had ended with a single arrest, Long said the city might experience a similar situation with burglaries. “Somebody is in jail now for auto theft and that trend has ended, and I hope to see in the next few months an improvement to the trend with burglaries.”

Pace said the case and the arrests resulted from a concerted communication between Fairburn officers.

“This was a team effort from beginning to end,” said Pace. “It started with the first officer at the scene and continued through the investigation by CID (Criminal Investigations Division). It was a matter of good communication by everyone involved.”

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