Former Dalton, Georgia, UPS Store owner arrested again

DALTON, Ga. — The former owner of the UPS Store on Walnut Avenue here was arrested Friday afternoon by officers with the Johns Creek Police Department in Fulton County and charged with felony theft by receiving, Dalton police said today.

Edward Michael Copenhaver, 45, was arrested on warrants from the Dalton Police Department and taken to the Whitfield County Jail today. The warrants were issued as part of an ongoing investigation into reports of missing or stolen property supposed to have been shipped either to or from the UPS Store at 1323 Walnut Ave.

Copenhaver, part owner of the store, and Margaret Katherine Carlisle, 26, both of 1903 Middle Summit Drive, were arrested by Dalton police in June on a similar charge and were free on bond.

On July 11, a complainant told police he had shipped a Macintosh computer and Nintendo Wii to his home in California from the Dalton UPS Store and the package never arrived. Dalton police investigated, obtained a search warrant for Mr. Copenhaver’s home and served the warrant on July 13. Investigators recovered the computer and the gaming system, and serial numbers showed they were the stolen items, police said. While serving the warrant, investigators also located more than 30 bottles of imported wine reported missing from the UPS Store in a separate case. Those items also were confirmed as stolen, police said.

On July 6, an employee of the UPS Store turned over 10 Red Box DVDs that were at the store and found by investigators to be stolen. Police said investigators had seen nearly 60 Red Box DVDs at the home while serving the July 13 search warrant and obtained another warrant for stolen DVDs. When trying to serve that warrant on July 18, investigators found Copenhaver and Carlisle had moved all of his belongings out and no longer were living at the home.

Dalton police obtained three felony theft by receiving warrants on both Edward Copenhaver and Margaret Carlisle. Last week, police received a tip that Copenhaver would be in Johns Creek on Friday and worked with Johns Creek police to make the arrest, authorities said.

Copenhaver and Carlisle had been arrested in May by the Alpharetta Police Department on charges related to the theft of Target gift cards supposed to have been shipped from a UPS Store there to tornado victims in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Carlisle was one of Copenhaver’s employees and also lived with him in Dalton. Media reports of that arrest led to new reports of property missing from the Dalton store, and Dalton police arrested the pair June 10 on charges of theft by receiving after a search warrant led to discovery of a stolen jacket a Dalton resident intended to send out from the Dalton UPS Store but which never reached its destination, authorities said.

Dalton Police Department still are seeking Margaret Katherine Carlisle.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call Detective Ricky Long at 706-278-9085, extension 168.