Armed Robbery Victim Punches Suspect In Face: Blotter

SANDY SPRINGS, GA -- Editor’s note: the following incidents were taken from the Sandy Springs Police Department’s Weekly Wrap Up compiled by Capt. Steve Rose, which contains some — not all — of the incidents that occurred Jan. 28-31:

Robbery

• 5500 block of New Northside Drive, 30339, 1/31: Officers received a call of a robbery just after 11 p.m. Two men said they were staying at the Wyndham and decided to go for a walk. They walked across to where the Chevron Station is and behind it to the rear of the Wells Fargo Bank. At that point, they noticed a male pass them and say something to them. They did not understand him and kept walking. The man then approached them behind the bank and pulled a gun, demanding money. One man gave him $87 cash. The second victim, while retrieving his items to give the suspect, punched him in the left side of his face. The suspect then fled. He dropped his gun but retrieved it and continued to run. The victims said they saw a black car in the ATM lane but thought nothing of it until after the suspect was punched. He yelled “help” and the car then sped off. They were not able to tell if the car picked up the suspect or not. The suspect is a light-skinned black male, 25 to 30 years old, about 5’6” and maybe 165 pounds. He wore a grey jacket and was clean-shaven. The gun was silver.

Burglary

• 5675 Roswell Road, 30342, 1/29: Sometime between 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., someone entered the residence through a window and took an Apple MacBook Pro and jewelry, which they apparently put in a pillowcase before leaving.
• 400 block Morgan Falls Road, 30350, 1/29: A maintenance shed was broken into resulting in the theft of a few bottles of freon and a nitrogen compressor. Another maintenance shed at 7785 Roswell Road was burglarized with tools taken.
• 500 block Harbor Pointe Pkwy, 30350, 1/30: A maintenance shed was burglarized, resulting in the theft of three tanks of Freon.
• 1800 block Spalding Drive, 30350, 1/30: Copper piping and electrical copper wire was stolen from a residential construction site.
• 7000 Roswell Road, 30328, 1/31: The complainant said a contractor informed him his office door was unlocked. Taken were a laptop and two cameras.
• 100 block Brantley Drive, 30350, 1/31: The complainant said she entered the home and found an inside door forced open. Someone used a barrel to climb upon the balcony, and then forced the door open, triggering the alarm. Nothing was missing.

Thefts

• 7700 block Spalding Drive, 30350, 1/29: The employee at the liquor store said a man came in and stole a bottle of Chandon Red Sparkling Wine, valued at just over $21. Capt. Steve Rose says: on the way out, the man dropped his wallet. The employee identified the driver's license photo as the same man. We’ll be in touch sir.)
• 6800 block Roswell Road, 30328, 1/30: A man reported he let a friend move into his apartment. In turn, the man stole two checks and cashed them at a Regions Bank for $100 each. The man also stole a Bose Wireless Speaker.
• 300 block North River Pkwy, 30350, 1/30: A man reported that he owns a transportation company and that one of his employees took one of his vehicles and vamoosed. He said the man was supposed to pick up a load in California and take it to Tennessee but did not do so. He said the suspect has a girlfriend in California and ran off with her.
• 290 Hilderbrand Drive, 30328, 1/30: The report said the complainant was waxing a client when she heard someone in the reception area of the place where you get waxed. She later discovered her car keys, and car were missing. The person being waxed, the waxee, if you will, was not involved.
• 6600 block Roswell Road, 30328, 1/30: A 29-year old woman reported her Uber driver left the location with her personal items still in the car. She said the driver agreed to wait but after five minutes when she returned, the driver was gone. Rose: Uber has a support line (800-285-9481.)
• 4600 Roswell Road, 30342, 1/30: An employee of AT&T said a white male, about 5’10” and extremely thin, red hoodie and jeans, stole three pairs of Beats By Dre headphones and ran out.
• 5600 block Windy Ridge Drive, 30342, 1/31: A 24-year-old man said he was moving items from his vehicle around 9 p.m. He discovered the following morning that it was gone. He told the officer he left the keys in the car.

Thefts From Vehicles

• 8610 Roswell Road, 30350, 1/28: Purse and contents
• 300 block Jefferson Circle, 30350, 1/29: Not listed
• 900 block Crestline Pkwy, 30342, 1/29: Nothing taken
• 500 block Telford Pl, 30342, 1/30: Duffle bag with paperwork/check
• 1800 blk Kingston Drive, 30342, 1/30: HP Elite Book and MacBook Pro
• 4500 blk Windsor Gate Ct., 30342, 1/30: North Face backpack with gym clothing
• 5925 Roswell Road, 30328, 1/31: Concrete saw and other tools
• 5000 block Baroque Circle, 30342, 1/31: Binder and papers
• 200 block Morgan Farm Drive, 30342, 1/31: Wallet, credit cards and $15 cash
• 2900 block Spring Creek Lane, 30350, 1/31: Truck tailgate door

Assault

• Violence erupted at the Misters Barber Shop located at 8765 Dunwoody Place on Jan. 31 just after 11 a.m. A man said he was firmly seated in the chair receiving barber services when another man came in and punched him, landing one under his left eye. The victim took cover and called the police. He told the officers that he sold an Amazon Fire Stick to the suspect and apparently, the device was not working, prompting the assault. They spoke to the suspect who invoked his Fifth Amendment rights, telling them “I plead the Fifth.” The officers asked the barber himself who, according to the report, “replied negatively.” “The Fifth” as he is now known, was arrested for battery and taken to jail.

Fraud

• A 35-year-old man reported that on Jan. 30, he received a call from Apple, Inc. regarding his two refurbished laptops that he ordered. He had not done so and found that his Navy Federal credit card had been used. The sale was nixed.
• A 52-year-old woman reported her Belk credit card was fraudulently used for several transactions
  to purchase fragrances. Whoever did it also tried to open accounts at Target and TJ Maxx but they were declined. The charges amounted to about $1,000.
• A 21-year-old woman said she lost her purse in December at a location in the 8500 block of Roswell Road. She recovered it the following day but her paper ID, SSN card, and bankcard were gone. She was informed by the bank that someone deposited $4,000 into the account, and then withdrew $3,100 from it (since the $4,000 was fraudulent).
• A 33-year-old woman said she was attempting to purchase a puppy from a website “skybulldogs.com.” She had been corresponding with a man in Abilene, Texas, and sent him $550 via Western Union for the puppy which she never received.
• 9200 Roberts Drive, 30350, 1/31: A manager for the River Vista Apartments told police a former employee in charge of the finances, and who lived in the complex, had fraudulently altered 14 Western Union money orders, converting them from other resident’s rent payments, and using them to pay hers. The officer went to her apartment and spoke with her, then arrested her on felony forgery in the first degree warrants.
• A 51-year-old man reported that he was selling furniture on Craigslist and was contacted by
  a man who agreed to buy it (sale price $2,250). The man mailed a check, not for the sale price, but for $3,450. He told the man to deposit the check and pay the balance of $1,200 to the mover, known as “Fred” (If you read my stuff, you already know where this is going). The victim-to-be went to the check-cashing store and found the check to be fake. The store kept the check and the victim’s ID but returned it to the officer. It was not cashed. “Fred” has not yet shown. Rose: You know this is fake because they wanted to send a check for over the amount, with the balance sent on somewhere else. Good for you if you caught this.

Other Things

• Hanover Park Drive/Roswell Road, 30350, 1/27: A 27-year-old man reported that around 5 p.m., he was in traffic, stopped at a red light. When the light turned green, the car ahead of him remained. After a few seconds, he honked. The man moved up and stopped, repeating this a couple of times. The victim honked again, and then went around him and to his apartment complex. At the front gate, the suspect pulled behind him and got out. He came to the window and told the man “that can get you hurt.” The victim saw a holstered gun on the suspect. The man re-entered his car and left. The tag was registered to a rental company.

Arrests - Marijuana

• 7 Concourse Pkwy, 1/28, Parking lot check; Sitting in the parking lot. Subject gave the officer is cannabis card, stating he thought it was legal.
• 5555 Roswell Road, 1/28 (The Falls at Sandy Springs): Called to a theft, smelled ganja inside. Rose: Do not report a theft when you’re smoking the weed, guys!
• 7330 Roswell Road, 1/30, Traffic Stop (tail light out): Said he forgot the weed was in his pocket.

Arrests - Other

• 5570 Roswell Road (Target), 30342, 1/28: A female was arrested by store security after stealing 21 gift cards and 29 receipts that she intended to return for store merchandise exchanges.
• 900 block of Jefferson Drive, 30350, 1/29: Responding to a call of a woman screaming, officers located a woman who had blood and scratches on her head. She said her husband, who was in the bedroom, had assaulted her. They located him on the bed. He became combative with the officers and he was wrestled down and handcuffed. He was later arrested on domestic violence charges as well as assaulting the officers. He is in jail.
• 6299 Roswell Road, 1/29, failure to appear (Cherokee County)
• 800 Hammond Dr., 1/29, failure to appear shoplifting (Dunwoody police/transferred to them)
• 300 block N. River Parkway, 1/28, Not listed (Fulton Sheriff’s Department)
• Barfield Road, 1/29, Not listed (Atlanta police)
• 285/Northside Drive, 1/30, State probation violation (Pardons and Parole Board)
• 900 Hammond Dr., 1/31, failure to appear (Atlanta police)
• GA-400 at I-285, 1/31, failure to appear (Atlanta police)
• 6096 Barfield Road, 30328, 1/29: An officer observed a motorcycle parked at the Hawthorn Suites in the pedestrian walkway. He ran the tag, which showed the bike was registered to a Kawasaki. The bike was, in fact, a Honda. He went into the hotel and eventually found the man who said he owned the bike. He said he bought it recently and showed the bill of sale, written on a hotel piece of paper. Because the bike was not reported stolen, he asked the owner if he could see his ID. He provided one showing a warrant with Atlanta police. The officer also found other items including a fake Texas license (the ink bled). Other items including a debit card registered to a man who said several fraudulent charges had been made with it recently. The man was later arrested on felony financial transaction card fraud charges.
• 8300 block Roswell Road, 30350, 1/30: Cops responded to Kroger where they were told a man came in to buy alcohol but he was already drunk so they declined. The officer offered up a ride to the man’s friend’s house. While patting him down before putting him in the car, a bag of ganja fell from his trousers. He was arrested.

Image via Sandy Springs police