Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, July 22, 2021
The Upson Beacon
Page 5A
BAA Investigation,
Continued from Front
cording to Captain Monica
Snipes, investigator with the
TPD.
In the video, Libri alleges
the teens could be victims of
child sex trafficking. He also
asks for donations multiple
times for a sex trafficking crisis
center he says he hopes to open
in Thomaston at a cost of
$300,000.
Libri was convicted on four
counts of impersonating an of
ficer in three different counties
- Douglas, Fulton, and Cobb -
dating back to 2013. Other
charges Libri served time for
were false imprisonment and
identity fraud. Libri was re
leased from prison in February
2020 and will remain on pro
bation until 2035.
Capt. Snipes said, “The
teens ran away from state cus
tody. They were never in
danger in Thomaston. Both
were returned to state au
thorities without incident.”
Early that day, Libri noti
fied TPD. He gave officers the
impression that the girls were
being housed in Thomaston
and could be in danger.
In the hour-long video,
multiple police officers gath
ered to go to the house around
1 a.m., with Libri following be
hind. He was recording the
video the entire time, which ap
peared to be live. Libri makes
comments throughout the
video to imply the situation is
dangerous:
“The police here, they have
the whole police department
here, been waiting on warrants
all day.”
“Since 10 a.m. this morn
ing, it’s now 1 a.m. I am sick as
a dog, but it’s a kid, right? No,
we can’t disclose our location,
can’t do that. Can’t put anyone’s
life in jeopardy.”
“It’s been a long day, long
day getting this set up.”
“Don’t be putting my loca
tion on here, I will ban you from
this video. If you know where
we are and you put what town
we are in, and we don’t rescue
these kids, I will ban the f**k
out of you.”
The video showed police of
ficers entering an open front
door of the home without issue.
A few minutes later it shows the
teens being escorted out and
into a transport vehicle. Libri is
in a neighbor’s back yard when
he is told the girls are gone and
that the homeowner is being
interviewed by officers. Libri
shines a light on an older model
camper in the back yard. Libri
says:
“Now we just wait to see
who this piece of sh*t is.”
“You hang here to the back.
If they run out of the camper, I
have him in front, in case this
mother fr*ker tries to pull a gun
on these police officers, that’d
be the worst packing mistake
they could make right now.”
Talking to his dog, he says,
“I hope they run on you too.
Trust me, I hope they run.”
The video, which appears to
have been removed, had a
WhatsApp link on the bottom
of the post for people to make
donations for his crisis center.
Bikers Against Abuse Inter
national is a non-profit that was
registered with the State of
Georgia November 2019, while
Libri was in prison. Libri claims
to have more than 600
members/advocates and chap
ters in several states and Ca
nada, but the Upson Beacon
could not find any other chap
ters in our search. We did find
Bikers Against Child Abuse, an
organization that was estab
lished 25 years ago and does
have chapters all over the
United States and other coun
tries. We asked if they were af
filiated with Bikers Against
Abuse and they replied with the
following statement:
“Bikers Against Child
Abuse, its officers, members
and/or supporters, are not in
volved... nor affiliated, do not
associate and do not have any
personal relationship with
"Bikers Against Abuse" nor any
of its membership. We are
aware of Bikers Against Abuse
International's existence and
aware of the obvious confusion
that exists and has been
created... given "their choice"...
to so identify themselves.
“Bikers Against Child
Abuse has been in existence for
25 years, is a truly ‘inter
national’ organization with an
established and respected his
tory of service across North
America... Europe and Oceania.
BACA’s mission is to ‘empower
abused children to not live in
fear.’ Bikers Against Child
Abuse does not condone the
use of violence or physical force
in any manner!
“Please visit our website at
BACAWORLD.ORG which
should provide enough infor
mation to differentiate us from
any organization that claims to
perform similar services or that
creates confusion, either inten
tionally or unintentionally, by
use of similar names, acro
nyms, mission statements, or
claims of affiliation. Please note
that I have taken the liberty to
copy our legal counsel and in
ternational public relations of
ficer in this response.”
Although Libri pled guilty
in Douglas County, Libri said, “I
went to prison and served my
time. Did I cross the line? Yes, I
did, but that was then and this
is now. We are doing it a differ
ent way. My heart is in it 100
percent, it was then too. Back
then, we didn’t have a governor
who wanted to hear about sex
trafficking, now we do. No one
wanted to hear about it, I was
arrested because of dirty cops
not wanting to do their job. I
am okay with serving time be
cause the girl I saved lives in a
different state and she’s mar
ried. It’s worth it.”
A news report from the
Patch, the case against Libri in
Douglas County, dated August
2015, said: "The defendant in
serted himself into an investi
gation for a missing Douglas
County teenager and repre
sented to both the teenage girl's
family and the Douglas County
Sheriff s Office that he was a law
enforcement officer that spe
cialized in finding missing teen
agers," The DA's Office said in
a news release. "Libri is not law
enforcement, nor has he ever
been in law enforcement. He is
also not licensed as private in
vestigator."
The Patch also reported
that after Libri’s conviction and
at sentencing, “Judge William
‘Beau’ McClain, who said he be
lieves Libri was motivated by
‘ego’ and ‘self-aggrandizement,’
sentenced him to five years in
prison, followed by probation.”
"Police officers and law en
forcement are trained and
trusted to serve and protect our
community. While there is al
ways a place for citizens to as
sist law enforcement in
maintaining a safe community,
there are proper methods for
doing this that do not involve
deception," District Attorney
Brian Fortner said in a state
ment. "This defendant was con
cerned with self-promotion,
accolades, and the benefits he
himself received from pretend
ing to help. It is concerning
when someone who is not
trained law enforcement pre
tends to be so.”
See the following links for
more information:
https://patch.eom/georgia/d
ouglasville/man-conuicted-
impersonating-officer-mis-
sing-teen-search-O
https: //law.justia.com/cases/
georgia/court-of-
appea Is/2018/al 8a 0528. him l
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County Millage Rate,
Continued from Front
sage to the City of Thomaston,
Community Relations Com
mittee, and Thomaston-
Upson School System.
“This is a very challenging
community issue,” she said.
“As an economic developer it’s
scary. If we had an industry
wanting to relocate and create
75 new jobs, where would we
find the workers?”
Fletcher reiterated that
one of the main problems is
finding workers who can pass
a drug test. She emphasized
the need to reach not only stu
dents, but also their parents,
to improve a failing work
ethic.
In other business, the
commission voted unani
mously to establish a “court
technology fund” to index his
toric plats which have been
scanned, helping relieve a
storage space shortage for the
Clerk of Superior Court.
Indexing would allow in
formation to be accessed more
easily, and a “search fee”
would enable the county to re
coup the one-time charge of
$28,550 for the technology.
New plats would be loaded
automatically at no additional
charge, according to officials.
Crime Suppression Unit,
Continued from Front
neighborhoods, drag racing,
and loitering in large crowds.”
Richardson warned of
growing gang activity in Thom
aston and Upson County.
“Griffin and Spalding
County have a large gang pres
ence. We have seen an influx of
those activities in the Thomas
ton area and have seen some of
those members from the Grif-
fin-Spalding area trying to re
cruit in Thomaston,” he stated.
“Several cases we’ve worked
over the past two years have
had gang-related ties.
“We don’t have any mech
anism to combat gangs other
than our uniform patrol,” Rich
ardson explained. “We have in
creased activity and
productivity, and are very
pleased with the numbers, but
we need a designated unit.”
Richardson said the four-
man unit would work together,
deployed in problem areas to
address drug and gang activity,
but also could be detailed for
specific problems requiring
plain clothes undercover oper
ation and surveillance. He em
phasized that the group could
oversee special events, execute
high-risk warrants, assist with
special investigations, and pro
vide additional manpower if
needed on routine calls.
Establishing a specialized
unit would enhance TPD’s re
cruitment potential, the chief
added, and would provide mo
tivation for existing personnel
to be promoted to the elite
squad. The addition would in
crease TPD staff from 30 to 34.
Richardson did not submit
cost estimates for creation of
the proposed crime suppres
sion unit. City Manager Russell
Thompson said it is too soon to
speculate on one-time setup or
ongoing operating expense for
such a program.
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Trash Services,
service area. Along with one
household garbage truck, there
will be two large outdoor trash
trucks with claws and one box
truck for smaller piles.
Addition of the smaller
truck will allow large trucks to
focus on heavy waste that can
not be loaded by hand. Cun
ningham added that if residents
will place items small enough to
fit into garbage cans, the pro
cess will be streamlined even
more.
GFL averages almost 1,000
pickups per day locally, accord
ing to company officials.
In other business:
•Following a request by
Thomaston Police Chief Mike
Richardson, council voted
unanimously to increase pay for
school crossing guards to $15
per hour. The increase, for three
guards working two hours daily
during school sessions, will cost
the city $12,420 annually, ac
cording to Richardson. The vote
also increased pay to $18 per
hour for crossing guards with
five years of service.
•Richardson and council
members discussed a physical
agility test for all certified of
ficers, including the chief. An
agility test similar to one re
quired for admittance into the
Police Academy would be ad
ministered to TPD personnel
quarterly. Officers will have one
year to prepare for the physical
test, Richardson said.
•City Manager Russell
Thompson told council that a
three-way wastewater agree
ment among the city, county,
Continued from Front
and Industrial Development
Authority is being prepared by
attorneys. Members of the
council and the Upson County
Commission recently approved
a new joint agreement.
•Thompson said there have
been “a few change orders” dur
ing construction of the new
Thomaston Fire Department on
North Church Street, but TFD
should be in its new home by
November.
•During Public Works Di
rector Kyle McGee’s discussion
of resurfacing projects, he said
a parking lot for Lake Thomas
ton should be added by Oc
tober. The space should
accommodate approximately 15
vehicles for residents who wish
to walk the property, according
to McGee.
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