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Suspects arrested in wreath fires
Two SROs credited for cracking case
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Forsyth County News

Two Forsyth County teenagers have been charged in connection with a recent series of Christmas wreath fires and other damage in a north Forsyth subdivision.

According to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, 17-year-old Chase George Perry and a 15-year-old male friend were both arrested Thursday. Each has been charged with first-degree arson, second-degree criminal damage to property and six counts of criminal trespass.

The incidents happened overnight Tuesday at several homes in the Bridgetowne subdivision off Hwy. 369.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Karleen Chalker said Perry, who will be tried as an adult, was released from the Forsyth County Detention Center Thursday night after posting $40,150 bond.

The other suspect remains in custody at the Regional Youth Detention Center in Gainesville. He will be tried as a juvenile, she said.

The warrants for arson were taken by the county’s fire department and the sheriff’s office handled the other charges, Chalker said.

“In addition to wreaths being burned, mailboxes were pulled up in the subdivision, as well as other property on the porches of homeowners was disrupted or destroyed,” she said. “The criminal trespass charges were taken due to these incidents.”

Chalker described two local school resources officers as having been “instrumental in solving this case.”

The officers, Joshua Bell and Jeremy Kingsley, are out of school for the holiday break, but she said they were able to patrol areas and respond to calls for service.

“Because of their knowledge of some of the students, they were able to communicate with the right individuals and investigate this case, which resulted in these two arrests,” Chalker said.