21-Year-Old Dennis Touchstone Gets 45 Yrs. For Home Burglary

JONESBORO, Ga. -- A 21-year-old Jonesboro man was sentenced to 45 years in prison for a home burglary. Clayton County police said it was a case that other young people should lea from.

The conviction stemmed from a lunchtime burglary in Jonesboro on April 13. Twenty-one-year-old Dennis Touchstone and 22-year-old Coelius Leftwich stole several electronics from a home on Sedgewick Drive, but they didn’t get very far.

The pair pulled up to the home around noon, and one of them knocked on the front door for five minutes before kicking the door in, according to a Clayton police report. One of the two men, who had remained in a Dodge Stratus, then backed the car to the garage side of the house, the report said.

A caller told police that he saw the two going back and forth from the house to the car several times before speeding off. When police arrived, they said they found the back door open, but no one was inside. Meanwhile, other officers spotted the Dodge Stratus and pulled it over at a Shell gas station on Thomas Road.

Police said they found a flat screen television, a latop, a Wii game system and two Blackberry cell phones in the car.

Officers detained the driver, Leftwich, but Touchstone ran off into the woods, the report said.

When an officer chased after him, Touchstone shot at him, the report said. He was eventually captured and charged with aggravated assault and felony obstruction of an officer in addition to burglary.

Leftwich, who was only charged with burglary, was sentenced to five years in prison, with only one year to serve. He was given four years of probation.

Clayton County police Sgt. Otis Willis announced the convictions in a Friday news release, calling it a ”plea to youth to lea from others’ mistakes.

”The Clayton County Police Department strives to educate our youth in hopes that they make sound decisions that will enhance their life and our community, Willis said. ”Chief Gregory Porter, and the men and women of CCPD, wish nothing but success for the youth of Clayton County.