A 26 year old man has been charged with stealing bronze vases from cemetery tombstones and then selling them at a scrapyard.
Gary Christopher Ponder of Old Mill Hill Road, Dowelltown will be in General Sessions Court on April 24 to face one count of theft over $1,000. His bond is $5,000. He was arrested on Tuesday, April 8.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on or about March 24, Ponder allegedly took eleven bronze vases from eleven different graves (tombstones) at DeKalb Memorial Gardens. He then took the vases to a scrap yard in Woodbury where he sold them. The approximate value of the vases is more than $1,000. While Ponder has allegedly admitted to taking these eleven vases, more could be missing from the cemetery. Sheriff Ray urges anyone who discovers vases missing from the graves of their relatives to report it to the owners of the cemetery. They will then contact the sheriff’s department.
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