Community Policing Partnership Award

Pictured Left to Right:  Chief Robert Merchant, Mr. Johannes Van Kints, Mr. Bret Brickles,

Lt. German Rivas and Asst. Chief Mark Mitchell 

photo by: Stan Oliver 

On November 22, 2013 two armed males entered the Cartersville Jewelry in the Walmart Shopping Center and took approximately $52,000 in jewelry and fled the scene in a pick-up truck.

Mr. Van Kints observed the suspects enter the truck and speed off. Thinking something was wrong, Mr Kints decided to follow the vehicle and also activated his Go PRO camera and called Cherokee 911. As he followed the vehicle he relayed valuable information on the vehicle's direction and a clothing description of the occupants. When the subjects exited the interstate at Exit 14 Mr. Van Kints lost sight of the vehicle.

Mr. Bret Brickles, on Marietta Highway, observed the suspects throwing clothing from the vehicle onto the roadway. Mr. Brickles then flagged down a Cherokee County Deputy Sheriff and reported what he had observed. The clothing was retreived and matched the description provided by Mr. Van Kints. The clothing was sent to the State Crime Lab for processing which resulted in DNA matches for both perpetrators

Chief Robert Merchant, during the City Council meeting on November 6, 2014, presented them with the Department's Community Policing Partnership Award. Chief Merchant stated "Mr. Van Kint and Mr. Brickles played a very important role in bringing this incident to a successful conclusion. They provided valuable information on the suspect's vehicle, direction of travel and clothing description."