To:Paulding County Media
For Immediate Release
Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Responds to Cautionary Emails That are NOT Substantiated as Official Warnings
(Paulding County, GA) The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office has been made aware of an email that has been circulating and identified as “passed along by the Paulding County Courthouse.” Those emails are NOT an official statement of the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office, and the information in the email is NOT supported by current Sheriff’s Office intelligence.
The following is a sample of the email that is circulating:
Subject: FYI, passed along by Paulding County Courthouse To: *********************
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 9:18 AM
passing along to all my female friends.. better safe than sorry.....
FYI, passed along by Paulding County Courthouse
Several things to be aware of this year…as gangs and robbers are now plotting different ways to get a person to “stop” their vehicle.
Please send to your friends.
Please note:
There is a gang initiation reported by the local police department that gangs are placing a car seat by the road…with a fake baby in it… waiting for a woman, of course, to stop and check on the baby.
Note that the location of this car seat will usually be beside a wooded or grassy (field) area …and the person - woman - will be dragged into the woods- beaten and raped- usually left for dead.
DO NOT STOP. DIAL 9-1-1 AND INFORM THEM…..
IF YOU ARE DRIVING AT NIGHT AND EGGS ARE THROWN AT YOUR WINDSHIELD. DO NOT OPERATE THE WIPER AND SPRAY ANY WATER BECAUSE EGGS MIXED WITH WATER BECOME MILKY AND BLOCK YOUR VISION UP TO 92.5% SO YOU ARE FORCED TO STOP BESIDE THE ROAD AND BECOME A VICTIM OF ROBBERS. THIS IS A NEW TECHNIQUE USED BY ROBBERS. PLEASE INFORM YOUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES.
This email contains similar hallmarks of other gang related “urban legends.” This same email was found online circulating in the Tennessee area as an email from the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) in late 2009. TDOC also acknowledges that they, in fact, have not sent out this email, nor do they have any reports of this activity actually taking place.
Paulding County Sheriff Gary Gulledge does however want to remind citizens to always be cautious and aware of their surroundings. “I would never recommend stopping your vehicle and getting out while traveling alone on dark, isolated roads. Use your cell phone to dial 9-1-1 if you see a situation or person that you think may need help. Then you can drive to a more populated and well lit area to wait for deputies, if necessary.”
Sheriff Gulledge asks citizens to use caution when forwarding emails that do not appear to be official documents or come from an unknown source. The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office is using a secured network provided by Nixle to send statements and communications to Paulding County citizens. You can be assured that the information is authentic when received by Nixle as a message or alert from the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office. Go to www.nixle.com to learn more and sign up to receive those messages/alerts by email and text messaging.