ROSWELL, Ga. — A former Georgia deputy has been arrested after police said he broke into the home of late NFL player Demaryius Thomas to party.
Several items of sports memorabilia, a gun and other valuables were also stolen in the incident.
Roswell police were called to the Riverside Road on March 13, according to police reports obtained by Channel 2 Action News and WGXA-TV.
Thomas died on Dec. 9, 2021 at age 33 after he had a seizure stemming from injuries he suffered in a car accident in 2019. Thomas played wide receiver at Georgia Tech and spent nine of his 10 NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos.
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According to a Roswell police report, Thomas’ mother, assistant and financial advisor told police no one had been using the house and it should have been empty. They said the locks were changed shortly after Thomas’ death last year.
Thomas’ mother said social media posts tipped her off to the fact that the home had been broken into. Pictures made by her son’s friends showed them partying in the house.
When police got to the home, they watched an Uber driver park outside and make a food delivery. A man who answered the door refused to give any information on why he was at the house.
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Police found at least seven other people in the home as well as a gun, gun magazine and marijuana inside the pool room.
Police then found two people asleep in the master bedroom.
One of the people in the bedroom was identified as 29-year-old Vashone Hakeem Jones, an ex-Bibb County deputy, WGXA-TV reported. Jones resigned in 2019 after being charged with theft and card fraud, according to WGXA-TV.
The woman who was with Jones said she met him the night before at the God Room night club and he invited her back to the house.
Jones told officers that he used to live at the home and helped Thomas with his medical issues. Jones claimed he comes back on the weekends to check on the place.
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Jones was arrested and charged with criminal trespass and was released on $2,000 bond, according to Fulton County jail records.
Perfect Robinson was also charged with criminal trespass.
According to the police report filed by Thomas’ mother, several items were stolen from the home, including an ESPY award, football memorabilia, multiple football jerseys including one signed by Tom Brady, seven or eight guns, a hyperbaric chamber and thousands of dollars in cash.
So far, no one has been charged with theft, but police said the investigation is still active.
Jones is listed as a suspect on the police report; however, Roswell police told Channel 2 Action News in an email that no charges have been filed.
Roswell police said the theft investigation is still active and ongoing.
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