Around the Region: Hero Laid to Rest, Child Hit with Bat, Robbery Suspect Arrested, and Woman Scammed

– Douglasville Patch

Hundreds lined the streets of Douglasville as the motorcade bearing the remains of Lance Corporal Scott Harper passed by on Thursday. Barely a sound was audible as those who came to pay tribute hung their heads and placed their hand over their hearts.

Harper, 21, was stationed in the Helmand province of Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom when he was killed. Harper served with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.

- Dacula Patch

An 8-year-old boy was struck with a baseball bat when a neighborhood football game took a violent turn.

According to police, several children were playing football at a Hamilton Mill home when one of the boys, age 7, grabbed a baseball bat and struck one of the other players. Several adults rushed in and took the bat from the child. The mother of the bat-wielding child ran to check on the child that had been hit and sent her child inside their home. The child reportedly came back outside with two butcher knives. The knives were taken away before the child left the property. A witness said the child then grabbed a golf club and began swinging it in anger. At that point, the uncle of the child that had been hit called police.

The mother of the bat-wielding child said her son had been diagnosed with a medical disorder that manifests with aggressive behavior. Juvenile court officials later instructed the investigating officer to file an aggravated assault charge against the 7-year-old assailant.

– Lilburn Patch

A suspect in last month's RBC Bank robbery was arrested Tuesday in Morrow, said.

The suspect, Rayford Aaron Lanham, was identified after the video of the bank robbery was aired and police received two separate tips from viewers.

Lilburn police learned that Lanham was staying at an abandoned house in Morrow. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation secured the area until the Clayton County Sheriff's office could arrest the suspect. Lanham was taken to the Clayton County jail and will be brought to Gwinnett.

– Barrow Patch

A Barrow County resident received a phone call on Oct. 10 from a man who identified himself as an employee of the Microsoft Service Center. The caller said the woman’s computer had sent an error message to the center and he had been trying to contact her for "a while".

The caller claimed the woman had several viruses on her computer and, along with a “supervisor,” offered to repair the computer for $25. The victim provided her bank account information, which the caller used to create a Western Union account.

Four charges totaling $612 were attempted against the woman’s bank account before she realized she had been scammed. At the time of the police report, no withdrawals had cleared her account, but the victim’s bank advised that international charges could take several days to process.