Law enforcement from 11 different Georgia agencies just finished an operation to bust up an alleged theft ring.
Dubbed “Operation Rooftop,” it culminated in the arrest of several men for the theft of commercial roofing materials from job sites in North Georgia.
“To date we’re at just about a half-million dollars total of materials stolen from these sites,” Hall County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) spoke sperson Derreck Booth said.
The operation occurred on Aug. 14 in the early morning at two locations in Atlanta.
The first was at an apartment complex on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and the other location was a house on McElroy Road.
That led to the arrest of five suspects of the theft ring.
The five arrested were 20-year-old Margarito Amaya Zalasar, 24-year-old Miguel Amaya Zalasar, 27-year-old Jose Amaya Martinez, 30-year-old Juan Adrian Torres Tello, and 30-year-old Gabriel Amaya Zalasar.
Four of the suspects lived at the Peachtree Industrial Boulevard location while Tello lived at the McElroy Road home.
“The charges that these individuals are facing are kind of scattered among the different agencies but they’re primarily arrest warrants for theft and conspiracy,” Booth said.
Gabriel and Miguel were booked into the Jackson County Jail while the other three were taken to the DeKalb County Jail.
The initial investigation began in June. The investigation revealed that suspects were targeting large commercial construction sites and stealing roofing materials.
Hall County and Pickens County Sheriff’s Offices carried out Operation Rooftop with the Banks, DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Jackson County Sheriff’s offices helping as well.
Other agencies included police departments in Brookhaven, Cartersville, Dunwoody, and the Flowery Branch as well as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).
Investigators are continuing work on the case and think there may be some unreported thefts that are a part of the investigation.
