Operation Swing Blade

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — On Monday afternoon, the Warner Robins Police Department (WRPD) announced 10 arrests that were made in connection to a joint initiative called “Operation Swing Blade,” a combined effort from WRPD, the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, the Department of Community Services, the U.S. Marshal Services (Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force) and the Houston County District Attorney’s Office.

According to the media release, the intention of the operation was to target “violent crime offenders, parole/probation violators, confirmed validated gang members, [to] seize weapon [and] drugs, and collect tangible evidence for outstanding investigations.”

The operation began at 6 a.m. Monday morning. The following are the persons arrested and their crimes:

– Jonathan Shi — Aggravated Stalking

– Christopher Billingsly

— Aggravated Assault

– Shyheem Felton — Possession of Ecstasy, Possession of Marijuana

– Shayne Waters — Aggravated Assault, Cruelty to Children

– Jeffrey Carroll — Violation of Probation (Possession of Methamphetamine)

– Tamjia Debruce — Aggravated Assault, Possession of Marijuana with Intent

– Charles Westry — Violation of Probation (Possession of Firearms, Possession of Marijuana/Meth)

– Master Frazier — Violation of Probation (Possession of Cocaine)

– Tony Herrin — Forgery

– Kiaiesha Debruce — Disorderly Conduct – Fighting

Police Chief John Wagner spoke with The Journal about Operation Swing Blade and what it was like to come together with so many agencies.

“They’re definitely a force multiplier,” Wagner explained. ”We work closely with all these agencies.

“The recidivism rate is through the roof, so we work closely with parole and probation, which is the Department of Community Services. As far as the Marshal Service, we have a sergeant that is assigned to the Southeast Regional Task Force — because we have that officer with the task force, we get all the benefits of the U.S. Marshals, the toolbox they have. We can get personnel, equipment as far as surveillance. It works out really good.”

Wagner said the operation was a success.

Houston County DA William Kendall told The Journal that his office was on the ground with the teams making arrests.

“We take warrants that are active out in the community, we work with different agencies and divisions to build intelligence on those warrants and find out where people are at, and then we pick a date and execute it,” Kendall said. “In this case, we split up into different teams, each team had one investigator from the DA’s office, as well as a prosecutor, so myself, my Chief ADA and Deputy Chief ADA were all out on different teams to support and real-time legal assistance while we’re out there.”

Kendall said that he and the law enforcement officers involved were just following through with a previous promise they made to crack down on violent crime.

“Law enforcement and the DA’s Office is alive and well in Houston County,” Kendall added. “We’re going to do our part to keep it safe. If that includes lawyers getting up and getting out on the street at 6 o’clock in the morning with local law enforcement, well that’s what it takes and that’s what we’ll do.

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