The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA

April 11, 2008

Man says he took cross ties to give to Northwest

By Kim Sloan

A Cohutta man charged with felony theft by taking for stealing railroad cross ties said he was going to give them to Northwest Whitfield High School for a landscaping project.

Dale Burton Farmer, 46, of 5478 Red Clay Road, is accused of taking 40 cross ties valued at $600 from a storage facility in Cohutta owned by Norfolk Southern. He is also charged with criminal trespass. He was arrested on Tuesday by Norfolk Southern police and is out of jail on a $1,500 bond.

“I was trying to do a good deed,” Farmer said. “They had given them to me in the past.”

No court date has been set.