The Ringgold Police Department currently has an overflow of computers after seizing thousands of dollars of merchandise from a local computer repair shop that, police say, has been swindling its customers for more than two months.

According to police chief Dan Bilbrey, the department has been receiving complaints from citizens who claim to have taken their items to Fast Fix Computers at 8300 U.S. 41 only to have their money and their computers stolen from them.

“We’ve filed several reports in which citizens took their items to this shop for repairs, and then were unable to retrieve their items from the guy running the shop,” Bilbrey said. “We then obtained warrants of theft by conver-sion and served them Thursday evening (Feb. 9).”

The man who has been running the business is 41-year-old Greg Ratliff of 22 Dawn Lane in Catoosa Springs, whom police now believe has skipped town amidst the investigation.

“We received a call late Wednesday evening (Feb. 8) from a customer who claimed that he recognized some of his items in the vehicle of a woman who was moving computers from the shop,” Bilbrey said. “The woman at the scene Wednesday night claimed to be the daughter of Ratliff’s girlfriend, and stated that she recently bought the business from Ratliff.”

Bilbrey says the landlord of the building then locked up the establishment late Wednesday night (Feb. 8), and that the police department served its warrants the next day to recover the merchandise in question.

“The investigation is ongoing,” Bilbrey said. “We are currently looking into contacting the owners of the com-puters so as to figure out what belongs to who, and so that we can get the property returned to the rightful owners.”

Ratliff, who also has active civil warrants regarding child support, fled the area and is believed to be in North Carolina, reports show.

According to Bilbrey, some citizens have already visited the police department to claim their items seized in the recovery.

“We are working diligently to get the right property back to the owners,” he said. “However, the case is still ac-tive and it will take a little time to match the merchandise with the owners.”

Anyone with information regarding the theft, or possible information regarding the whereabouts of Greg Ratliff, is encouraged to contact the Ringgold Police Department at 706-935-3066.