Bartow County deputies evacuated four Evergreen at the Vineyards Apartment Homes Saturday night due to a burglary report.
A resident of one home called 911 when her husband found the front door open, and the balcony door window busted.
After deputies cleared the residence, the complainant walked through and reported her pistol stolen. However, she also noted that the closet crawl space was open, and some sheetrock in the attic was broken and pushed back.
Therefore, deputies evacuated the surrounding apartment homes due to not knowing if an armed subject was still in the attic due to the residences’ crawl space above.
First, they successfully cleared all of the homes. Then, they called out into the crawl space stating they were the BCSO and to come out, or they would spray OC vapor into the attic space. When no one answered, they applied the fog into the area.
A small amount made it into the living space and out of the eaves of the building. Due to atmospheric conditions, the OC vapor could be detected by deputies outside of the building.
Deputies cleared the attic. Then, county fire personnel went to the scene and assisted in using exhaust fans to remove the vapor from the apartments before allowing the residents to return.