Blotter: Suspect Says "Thank You" After Carjacking Victim

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 Sept. 24-27:

Robbery

• 5800 block of Riverside Drive (near I-285), 30328, 9/25: Around 9:30 p.m. a man called police and reported he was robbed inside a car. The man said he was riding in his friend’s Ford Mustang after being picked up from work by the female driver. Another man, described as a black male whom he did not know, was in the backseat. They were on the way to Paces Ferry Road to visit a friend named Ramirez. They exited on Riverside Drive at which time the man in the back seat pulled a knife and took his money ($11.) The victim said he then jumped from the car and walked back towards the interstate and called the police.
• 100 block of Cimarron Pkwy, 30350, 9/26: A man said around 4 a.m. he was robbed in the parking lot of his apartment complex after returning home. He said a small black car pulled up next to him and two men exited, pulled a gun and demanded his wallet and anything else he had on him. The pair then fled. Suspect one: black male, 5’7” and 120 pounds, short black hair, white tank top and jeans. Suspect two: black male, 6’0” and 140 pounds, wearing a dark hoodie. A third black male occupied the suspect’s car. He was wearing a bucket hat and looked to be in his 20’s.
• 4920 Roswell Road, 30342, 9/27 (Kroger): The victim said around 7 a.m. he was in his car when he heard a tap on the window. He looked up to see a man and his gun, ushering him out. The man demanded the keys and left in the victim’s car but not before shaking the victim’s hand and telling him “thank you.” The suspect is a Hispanic male, mid-late 40’s, 5’11” and who wore a black windbreaker, baseball hat, and jeans.

Burglary

• 9300 block of Huntcliff Trace, 30350, 9/24: Sometime between noon and 3:15 p.m., someone forced a side door and entered the house. The man cutting the grass noticed the forced door and called the police. Items taken have not yet been reported.
• 1117 Perimeter Center West, 30328, 9/25 (Hoffman Services): A security guard reported that he found a broken window, courtesy of a cinder block. It appears someone entered and possibly took a computer.
• 4700 block of Huntley Drive, 30342, 9/27: Officers responded to an alarm around noon and found the front door open by force. Missing is a MacBook, iPad, and LG DVD player.

Thefts

• 6080 Roswell Road, 30328, 9/24 (AT&T): A female stole a phone and ran out of the store while the employee was working with another customer.
• 111 Glenridge Point Pkwy, 30328, 9/26: A 51-year-old man said that just after 3 p.m. he pulled up to the Jimmy John’s sandwich shop and went inside while leaving his car running. While he was inside, he saw a white male, tank top, jeans, and numerous tattoos, get into his car and drive off.
• A 20-year-old woman said she was eating at Willy’s at 1100 Hammond Drive. She got up to go to the
  bathroom and left her phone on the table. Upon her return, no phone. A witness said a man she knew, named Kevin, but with a street name of “Crippy J” took the phone when the victim went to the restroom. He then ran out the door. He is described as a black male, wearing tank top and sandals, described as heavy set. I’m not sure if they were sitting together or not.
• 5900 block of Roswell Road, 30328, 9/27: Officers were called to PETCO and spoke with an employee and a loss-prevention officer. The loss prevention officer told the officer that the employee skimmed $1,257 in fake returns from the 17th to the 26th. The employee, once confronted, told the loss prevention officer that he wanted to hurt himself, that he didn’t want to live. The man was taken to Northside Hospital for evaluation. Charges are pending the results.
• 7325 Roswell Road, 30328, 9/28: A 37-year-old man said he was at the Shell station on Roswell Road. He went into the store to pay, leaving his keys in the car. He said he saw two men in a silver car at a nearby pump. He looked away to transact his business and then looked back to find that the men and his car were gone. In the car was a GLOCK pistol, a silver MacBook, iPad Pro, numerous hard drives, an iPhone 6S, Fiji camera, and documents. The victim said his last track on the phone showed it on I-285 and I-20.

Thefts of and from Vehicles

• 7700 block Glisten Avenue, 30350, 9/24: See the narrative under “Arrests”
• 100 block of Brighton Pt., 30328, 9/24: Nothing taken
• 7200 block of Peachtree Dunwoody Road, 30328, 9/24: Pocketbook, credit card
• 1160 Hammond Drive, 30328, 9/24: Motorcycle and 9mm gun
• 1000 block of Spalding Dr., 30328, 9/24: Laptop (recovered)
• 700 block of Abernathy Road, 30328, 9/24: Cash
• 1400 block Harbor Pointe Pkwy, 30350, 9/24: Tag
• 5400 block of Interstate N. Pkwy, 30328, 9/24: driver's license, iPhone, credit cards
• 100 block of Marsh Trail Circle, 30350, 9/25: Nothing taken
• 200 block Spalding Trail, 30350, 9/26: Cash
• 500 block Mt. Vernon Hwy, 30328, 9/26: Nothing taken
• 21 Cedar Run, 30350, 9/26: Gym bag and contents, keys
• 5600 block of PDR, 30342, 9/26: MacBook
• 1400 block Masters Club Drive, 30350, 9/27: Necklace; no forced entry
• 800 block Hammond Drive, 30328, 9/27: Two guns

Fraud

• A 67-year-old woman said she received an evening phone call from someone claiming to work for Microsoft, and who said her Internet security had expired. She was told she had a store credit and to log onto a website to receive it. The caller asked for two MoneyGrams to be purchased for $1,940 each, and the serial numbers be provided to the caller. She said in the end, the total fraudulent funds to her account totaled $7,800. Capt. Steve Rose says: Okay this is partly out of frustration but when does the light go on? This caller had scam written all over him yet the victim was willing to spend more on the security of the computer than another computer would cost. Ask questions. Take time, make the caller answer and you’ll see they’ll start to slip up. Don’t take calls like this for face value. Geeze! Let’s be smart about this. We’re making it too easy.
• An 81-year-old woman reported that she received a call from someone claiming to be Chase, her
  grandson and who was in trouble for a DUI in Florida. Chase said he needed bond money and his attorney would make a follow up call to her. After hanging up, she received another call from a man named Raymond Carter, claiming to be her attorney, and who said she needed to get three Walmart cards for $1,000 each and give him the information on the cards, then send the cards to a woman named Patricia Renda. She did so and the following day she got another call from a man saying he was her grandson and needed his car from impound that cost $2,200. Another $3,000 was sent via Walmart Cards to the same Patricia Renda, even after the victim said she began to feel something was wrong. Rose: Okay, aside from the obvious, when does the light go on, etc, I am indeed hoping that Karma will kick in and each of these scammers will at some point spontaneously explode. That would be awesome.
• A 28-year-old woman said she received a call from a man named Mark Rodriguez about a medical
  debt to the WPG Wealth Management Group. He told her to pay six monthly payments to erase the debt. What concerned the victim is that Rodriguez knew her personal information including Social Security Number and date of birth. She said she is not in debt and owes no medical bills.

Other Things

• The folks at Steak and Shake, 6575 Roswell Rd reported a “wee-hours” disturbance on the 24th around 4:30 a.m. An off-duty employee began taunting another employee with obscenities and sign language. The receiver of the taunting began yelling back at him. The first employee then threw a drink on the second one and (now) the manager. The first guy left after the manager fired him. The other party wished to file charges, which remains to be seen.
• 300 block of Northridge Road, 30350, 9/28: A security officer reported that a package was found near an apartment building and he was not sure who it belonged to. The package was suspicious looking and so “suspicious package” protocol was kicked in. A perimeter was set up and a bomb tech from GBI came out and checked it out. Turns out it was a tool box. The owner was located and then life went on.

Arrests

• Cops were called just before 5 a.m. when a resident was awakened by his dog. He looked out the window and saw 4 young males in his neighbor’s car. He called the police. While one officer was speaking to the car’s owner, another officer spotted 4 young males who then fled from him inside a parking garage area. Two of the four were quickly caught and secured. Two others continued to look for an escape opportunity but were rounded up by another officer. The four, ages ranging from 11-16, had taken MARTA to Sandy Springs “to meet girls.” In reality, they came to Sandy Springs to steal from cars. Several stolen items were found including a laptop, ID cards, driver’s licenses, cellphones, wallets, and cash. Note: There were several car break in’s, as many as 14 that will be cleared with these arrests.
• 1200 block of Treelodge Pkwy, 30350, 9/25: Cops were called to an assault involving a hair pick and then knife wielded towards a 28-year-old man by a woman. Cops arrested her after speaking with the woman, who denied it, the man who was almost picked, and his brother who said he had the video of the incident on his cellphone but for some reason didn’t want to show it to the officers. She was arrested.
• Hammond and Peachtree Dunwoody Road, 30328, 9/26: An officer spotted a woman soliciting funds with a bucket at the intersection. She gave him a fake name (which never works) and later said she did so not to get in trouble. She had previous warnings on record so she was cited for soliciting and providing false information to police.
• Target loss prevention staff detained a 9-year-old for stealing Pokemon cards valued at $13. Parents were called to pick them up.
• 8100 block of Colquitt Road, 30350, 9/27: Cops were called and told by a 12-year-old boy that he was approached by another male and told to give him money for marijuana. The suspect took from him headphones, playing cards and $1. A description was given of a male, 6 feet tall, glasses, black clothing, and pink shoes. Another officer found someone matching that description. The man denied it, then said the 12-year-old victim came up to him and “started things,” and then finally admitted stealing from the kid. The offender, a juvenile, was taken to Metro Youth Detention Center on robbery charges.
• 6350 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, 30328, 9/28: Costco employees detained a male after he concealed a Bose Bluetooth speaker, valued at $159, and attempted to leave without paying for it. The man was seen opening the package with a knife and then concealing the speaker in his pants then, I guess, the plan was to awkwardly walk out with no one noticing. He was cited to appear on shoplifting charges and his Costco membership was revoked.

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Image via Sandy Springs police