Investigation backstory 

• May 6, 2015, GCPD responded to a domestic dispute at 4126 Wrexham Drive in Snellville. There is an extensive call history for past five years for medical calls, domestic disputes, and ordinance violations.

• Police suspected that the location was a personal care home and requested SVU detectives.

• Healthcare Facilities Regulations (HFR), Gwinnett County Quality of Life Unit, and Gwinnett County Fire Marshal’s Office was brought in to assist with the investigation.

• The location was ultimately identified as an unlicensed personal care home that had been previously identified and cited.

• Two suspects were charged with Neglect of Disabled Adult/ Elder Person

• State assistance was used to place the residents into alternate licensed personal care homes

• Detective’s continued investigating the parties who were involved and developed additional victims, locations, and potential suspects.

At 9AM this morning, Gwinnett County Police began simultaneously executing search warrants and arrest warrants at seven homes operating as unlicensed care homes in Snellville. The unlicensed care homes are housing numerous people who are suffering from a range of mental and physical illnesses. The victims are living in unsafe and unsupervised conditions and some have a diminished mental capacity. Detectives have also learned that the victims are recipients of EBT benefits and SSI payments. A number of the victims EBT accounts were being monitored by the state for fraudulent activity at the onset of the investigation. It is believed that the suspects are forcing the victims to relinquish their EBT and SSI payments as rent for these locations.

Detectives have obtained seven search warrants for seven different homes and eight arrest warrants for eight different suspects. All of the suspects are being charged with one count of Exploitation of an At Risk Adult (OCGA 16-5-120). All of the suspects are relatives and friends. We highly anticipate additional charges will be filed as the search warrants are executed and additional evidence is uncovered through documentation recovery and victim interviews.

Our primary objectives for this operation are to improve the quality of life for the victims without subjecting them to unnecessary stress or fear of law enforcement and gain the necessary evidence to solidify the criminal investigation. As a result, we have employed the assistance of several state and county agencies as follows; Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), Healthcare Facility Regulations (HFR), Adult Protective Services (APS), Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD), Gwinnett County Fire Marshal’s Office, Quality of Life Unit (QOL), Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services and the Veteran’s Affairs (VA). This operation involves approximately 150 personnel both law enforcement and civilian.

HFR and APS will be primarily responsible for the relocation and placement of the victims at licensed care facilities that are equipped to handle mental illnesses and other medical conditions. Paramedics will assist with the operation in the event that someone needs medical treatment at the scene. We are not sure exactly how many people will be located at the homes but we estimate that five to ten people may be found at each home. We forecast that relocating the victims and their property from the homes will take three to four hours at each location.

Because of OCGA 31-8-86, the identities of the victims and suspects will not be disclosed.

At 1:00 PM, a press conference will be held at the command post of the operation: Gwinnett County Fire Station 12, 2815 Lenora Church Rd, Snellville, GA 30078. At that point, the number of suspects arrested and the number of victims relocated will be provided.

Original Locations:

3431 Pate Road

3550 Imperial Hill Drive

2470 Northbrook Road

4026 Belgian Way

1483 Virgil Pond Lane

1474 Stephens Pond View

Additional Locations (discovered during executions of Search Warrants)

4060 Camaron Way

1495 Stephens Pond View

1505 Stephens Pond View

3017 Sonya Lane (city of Snellville)

2068 Englewood Way (city of Snellville)