Crime Stoppers Tips Link Man in DeKalb Jail to Metro PCS Robbery on JCB

The chips-eating suspect who allegedly held up a Jimmy Carter Boulevard cell phone store at gun point last month has been charged, Gwinnett Police said Monday.

Rondley Lemar Hamilton, 36, who is in the DeKalb County Jail on separate charges, has been identified as the suspect for several robberies, including one on March 30 at the Metro PCS store on Jimmy Carter Boulevard in unincorporated Norcross. Gwinnett Police said several Crime Stoppers tips apparently linked Hamilton to the crime.

Arrest warrants for armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of certain crimes, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon have been taken out against Hamilton.

Officers assigned to the West Precinct were called to the Metro PCS store on March 30 to investigate the robbery.

The victim told police he was setting up a display outside the store when the suspect walked up and said he needed to buy a power cord. The suspect was reportedly eating from a bag of chips when he walked up.

“After the suspect selected the product, he and the employee walked up to the register to complete the purchase,” according to an earlier Gwinnett Police news release on April 9. “The suspect then withdrew a black semi-automatic handgun from his waistband and pointed it at the victim.”

The suspect told the victim to get on the floor as he took cash out of register, then ordered the employee to help empty other cash registers and a purse, police said. The suspect ordered the employee to stay in a back room and the suspect walked out the front door.

“Following the media release on April 9 and subsequent coverage by many news outlets, the lead detective received several Crime Stoppers tips about a possible suspect,” Gwinnett Police spokesperson Cpl. Michele Pihera said in the Monday release. “On April 10, detectives with DeKalb County Police Department contacted the lead detective about a series of robberies within their jurisdiction.”

Hamilton was taken into custody at his mother’s home in DeKalb County, Pihera said.

(Photo: Rondley Lemar Hamilton. DeKalb County Jail mugshot)