HALL COUNTY, Ga. — Three north Georgia residents are facing charges after deputies say they were caught stealing from shipping containers near the site of last week’s train derailment.
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According to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, a Norfolk Southern train hit a lowboy tractor-trailer on the tracks at Old Cornelia Highway at Yonah-Homer Road on May 21.
Around 7 p.m. Sunday, Hall County deputies came to the railroad tracks after a 911 caller reported suspicious activity around several shipping containers.
The containers had been placed alongside the tracks where the train derailed. Cleanup crews have continued working at the site since the derailment.
When deputies arrived, they discovered four shipping containers with doors that had either been pried open or had locks cut off, authorities said.
Deputies encountered three people at the scene: Brianna Nicole Ayers, 28, James Bradley Ayers, 60, and Mark Anthony Purdy, 53, all of Alto.
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Authorities said they found several household products inside the suspects’ vehicles, including five cases of 12-count trash bags, six mixing bowl sets, three cases of 12-count boxes of breakfast cereal, three cases of 24-count boxes of Propel water, and a table.
A Norfolk Southern Railway special agent responded to the scene and requested charges against the suspects, according to authorities.
All three were charged with second-degree burglary and theft of cargo, both felony offenses. Jail records show the suspects remain in the Hall County Jail without bond on the burglary charges.
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