Don’t think gang activity would ever hit Calhoun County? Think again. Last week, the Blountstown Police Department shut down the “Plugg Boyzz” gang that originated at Blountstown Middle School, leading to three arrests.
School officials at BMS became aware of possible gang activity in late January and notified School Resource Officer Eddie Dalton. Information revealed the gang had plans to rob Moe’s Gas Station in Blountstown. Video evidence was discovered showing two girls fighting at Cooper’s Park as part of a gang initiation for one of them.
Earlier this month, Fire Chief Ben Hall discovered a street sign at the intersection of Ridge Avenue and Owens Street had been vandalized and spray painted with the gang name. The following day, a teacher caught a student drawing gang related sketches in class.
Two 13-year-old boys at BMS were interviewed by Ofc. Dalton and school officials. They freely admitted to being “kings” of the gang and described creating it. One of the boys had a cell phone with him and consented to a search. The phone revealed photos of the gang members smoking marijuana and throwing gang signs with their hands.
A third student, a 15-year-old boy from Liberty County, was also interviewed and admitted to being one of the gang’s “kings.”
The boys also freely acknowledged vandalizing the street sign, recruiting the female member and having her fight another girl to join the gang. One boy admitted they were planning to rob Moe’s Gas Station.
The two BMS students were reportedly making threatening comments in class about finding out who “snitched” on them and “making them pay.” The boys were called back to the office and told not to have any contact with anyone about the case. The boys reportedly became angry and remarked to Ofc. Dalton, “We will do our time.”
The boys have been charged with directing the activities of a criminal gang, causing, encouraging, soliciting, or recruiting criminal gang membership, electronic communication, and criminal mischief under $200. The female gang member was given a notice to appear in court for breach of peace and disorderly conduct for fighting at Cooper’s Park.
Although the names of the three boys have been released to the public due to the nature of their crime, we have opted not to publish them due to their ages.
