'Exhaustive' Work By Gwinnett PD Helps Capture Accused Robbers

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA — Thorough work by Gwinnett County Police detectives helped capture two men accused of robbing more than a dozen car-parts stores and murdering a retired sheriff’s deputy.

Corporal David Smith and Robbery Detective Justin Cofield — along with the FBI and five other area law-enforcement agencies — spent hundreds of hours working to identify Prince Robertson and Tavares Norah.

Robertson and Norah are believed to be responsible for a crime spree that included the deadly armed robbery on Jan. 8 of the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store on Hamilton Mill Road, where former Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Felix Cosme was killed.

A news release Thursday from the Gwinnett County Police Department detailed what happened, from the time Smith identified the getaway car and Cofield tied the robbery where Cosme was killed to four previous robberies.

Using recordings from surveillance cameras, Smith and Cofield eventually identified a specific Volkswagen Jetta tied to Robertson. That led to another break when they learned that Braselton Police had stopped Robertson for a DUI in 2019. Body-camera recordings from that incident showed Robertson with Norah in a second car that had been used in the robberies.

While conducting surveillance on the suspects on June 1, Smith and an FBI agent saw the two men rob an Auto Zone in Dacula. When confronted, Robertson and Norah tried to escape, resulting in a car chase and crash off La Maison Drive in Dacula. An exhaustive manhunt followed when the two men fled their vehicle. Robertson was arrested the next day, and Norah surrendered on his own.

According to Cpl. Collin Flynn of the Gwinnett County Police, detectives then located evidence they believe linked Robertson and Norah to other robberies and Cosme’s death.

In addition to the FBI, other agencies that helped were the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department, the Athens Police Department, the Cobb County Police Department, the Roswell Police Department and the Duluth Police Department.

Flynn praised the "exhaustive and dedicated work" Smith and Cofield contributed to the case.

Robertson and Norah currently are being held without bond in the Gwinnett County Jail with 68 felony warrants between them.

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