Cops To Foreclosed Couple Facing Felonies For Filching Fixtures They Paid For From Former Home: 'You Should've Dealt With Ownership Issue In Court'

In Gwinnett County, Georgia, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports:

• A Gwinnett County couple has been charged with felonies after they allegedly stole more than $70,000 worth of appliances and cabinets from a foreclosed home one of them once owned, Channel 2 Action News reported.



• The investigation began March 16, when a real estate agent interrupted Jeremy Brown and Dawn Nolan as they removed items from a vacant Walton County home once owned by Nolan and her former husband, Walton County Sheriff’s Capt. Chris Cannon told Channel 2.



• In a phone interview with the AJC Wednesday, Cannon said, "They were going back and forth to the once-marital home," on Calumet Lane in unincorporated Walton County near Monroe, "and removing items from that home and taking it to their current marital home." "This happened on at least five occasions -- in October, December, January, February and March," Cannon said.



• Authorities executed a search warrant at the couple's Gwinnett home on March 22 and recovered custom cabinets, high-end appliances, granite counter tops and wrought iron.



• Brown was charged with five counts of burglary, and Nolan, with theft by receiving stolen property, Cannon said. Both initially were booked into Walton County jail and have since been released on bond.



• When interviewed by Channel 2, the couple denied stealing and said the felony charges were overblown. "The police came over here and charged me with five counts of burglary for going to a house and stealing cabinets that was previously purchased by my wife," Brown said. Nolan said, “We did pay for those things out of our pocket. It was not wrapped up in the mortgage."



• Cannon said the couple had no authority to go into the house and remove things. It had been foreclosed, it is now owned by a bank, and a real estate agent has been working to sell the property, he said.



• Cannon said that while the case is still under investigation, the issue of who owned what in the dwelling "should have been dealt with in the courts during foreclosure, and I guess [the couple] opted not to. Our detectives are working to gather further information regarding that as well."

Source: Couple charged with stealing from woman's own former home.