A 47-year-old grandmother is facing drug, theft and child abuse charges after allegedly wrecking her vehicle, stealing and then crashing an ATV, and abandoning her grandkids in a pouring, rural Georgia rainstorm.
According to the Haralson County Sheriff’s Office, Vanessa Ann Vercruysse of Jefferson City, Tennessee, was heading to Florida with two of her grandchildren to deliver a dog Wednesday morning. She was driving on a local backroad when she somehow got her vehicle stuck.
Vercruysse got her two grandchildren out of the vehicle and then allegedly stole a side-by-side style ATV.
Police were called to the scene on Old Pleasant Hill Road about 8:30 a.m. in response to a trespassing call. Witnesses told deputies an older female and two male juveniles were trespassing on their property in the side-by-side.
While police were at the house where the ATV was stolen, they were approached by one of the grandchildren. He said he did not know where his brother and his grandmother were located. The other sibling was discovered several miles away at another residence. Vercruysse was later found by police in a wooded area.
Vercruysse has been charged with two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree; theft by taking; drug possession; second-degree criminal damage to property; and criminal trespass.
“This is a case where a person not only endangered the life of children but stole and damaged property in our county,” said Haralson County Sheriff Stacy Williams. “She must face the appropriate charges for her very serious crimes.”
