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Brick Bandits

Words: Jennifer Morrell
/Public/News/20090701144322-1.jpg" width="530" height="298" border="0" alt="The “Old Virginia Gang” used Old Virginia bricks to burst through the windows of the storefronts at the locations they robbed.">
The “Old Virginia Gang” used Old Virginia bricks to burst through the windows of the storefronts at the locations they robbed.

This is quite memorable, so I would like to share it with our readers. I read an article in a local Atlanta newspaper about a burglary ring recently broken up by authorities. The four-man group of thieves has been dubbed the “Old Virginia Gang,” since they used Old Virginia bricks to burst through the windows of the storefronts at the locations they robbed.

That’s right, it seems an old-fashioned brick is making headlines, only this time not for it’s rustic, “born old” appeal, but for it’s weight and strength to shatter glass. The Old Virginia Gang wreaked havoc on businesses in North Fulton and North DeKalb counties for 18 months, breaking into stores and homes, and stealing flat-panel televisions.

After robbing 23 businesses and two residences, the men were charged with 69 counts by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office. The unique Old Virginia bricks are thought to be from a leftover pallet at the apartment complex where one of the thieves was living at the time.

It’s interesting to think that an “Old Virginia Burglary Task Force” would ever need to be formed. But it was, since the common denominator in each of the burglaries was a classic masonry product. And even if the bricks were used to commit crimes, it shows that only something as strong as a brick could get the job done for the Old Virginia Gang.
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