Cobb business owner hopes thieves who stole thousands of dollars of equipment are found

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Chris Gregory can only watch the video recording as criminals make off with thousands of dollars of his lawn care equipment.

Gregory owns CMG Landscaping and Maintenance, a business he started in 2017 help to turn his life around and to provide second chances to others.

However, he still wants justice.

“When I broke the law, I had to go to jail. So actually, jail helped me a couple of times,” Gregory said.

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Life has not been easy for Chris Gregory. He says he joined a gang at 12 and went to juvenile by the time he was 14.

“I’ve been in jail three times, overdosed twice. I got shot three times and stabbed five times in my sleep,” Gregory said.

Gregory said he was caught in a vicious cycle of gangs, drugs, and crime while growing up in north St. Louis.

“90% of the guys I grew up with are dead or locked up,” Gregory said.

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Gregory said his life changed after a funeral reception turned into a shootout. Gregory said he prayed while hiding underneath a nearby truck and promised if he survived, he would leave St. Louis and turn his life around.

“I got a one-way ticket to Atlanta, Georgia,” Gregory said.

It took years of getting clean, but in 2017, he opened up CMG Maintenance and Landscaping. For the first two years, he was the owner and only employee. Six years later, his company has 22 employees, many of whom are ex-cons or ex-addicts who needed a second chance.

“The same thing god saw fit for me to do, I try to install it in them,” Gregory said.

However, on Saturday, criminals stole thousands of dollars of lawn care equipment.

“They could have asked. They could have knocked on the door, and I would have hired them,” Gregory said.

The owner wants justice but does not believe he will ever see his stuff back.

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