Drugs, Gun Found In Car After Driver Flees Police, Crashes Into Brick Sign

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 Feb. 10-15:

Robbery

• 6800 block of Hunters Trace Circle, 30328, 2/13: Just after midnight, officers were called to a home on a burglary-in-progress. They spoke with the resident who said that just before midnight, his Comcast alert on his phone alerted that his basement door was open. The dogs began to bark as well. The resident said he could hear more than one person moving furniture around and he told his wife to call 9-1-1. The resident then heard his garage door open and so he went downstairs and out the front door to see what was going on. According to the resident, one of the suspects then fired a weapon at him, causing him to retreat to cover. The suspects were leaving in the resident’s SUV and fired another shot in the direction of the house. They suspects then fled in the direction of Mt. Vernon Highway. He believes around 4 shots were fired. The suspects took two flat screen TV’s, a document, wallet, and a purse. The vehicle taken is a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Neither the resident nor his wife were injured. Capt. Steve Rose says: Well, this guy was kind enough to drop his cellphone that he was using as a flashlight, outside of the home when he took the shot at the homeowner. He is in jail after Atlanta police fugitive detectives located him over on Allison Drive in southwest Atlanta. Property in this burglary and others, including Lisa Lane’s burglary the other night, was recovered. I believe APD will have charges (burglary) as well. That investigation is ongoing.

Burglary

• 8100 block Colquitt Road, 30350, 2/10 (4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.): This apartment was burglarized after someone came in through a window. The resident is missing four rings and a watch.
• 19 Cedar Run, 30350, 2/11 (5 p.m. to 10 p.m.): The resident said someone entered his apartment through a rear window and took a PS4, iPad, iPod Touch, and an HP laptop.
• 5920 Roswell Road, 30328, 2/13: Around 2:30 a.m. cops were called to the Experimac Company where they spoke with an employee who said he was working inside when three suspects in white masks attempted to break in. He walked to the door and the three jumped into a a white Ford Escape vehicle and fled.
• 400 block Heritage Way, 30350, 2/13: A witness reported that she saw a car park in front of a home (neighbor I guess) get out, and walk up to the home. The man later got back into his car and left only to return a short time later when he backed his car into the carport, open the trunk, and then made several trips to and from between the carport and car. The officer arrived and found the home had been entered by force and several items taken. The witness obtained a tag number.
• 7000 block Glisten Avenue, 30350, 2/13: A man reported that he left the home to walk the dog and later, when his wife wanted to use the laptop, they could not locate it. He thinks someone entered the home and took it.
• 7000 block Blandford Place, 30350, 2/14 (11:28 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.): During the time frame listed, the resident said several pieces of jewelry were taken. Two back doors were unlocked and no forced entry was found.
• 8100 block Colquitt Road, 30350, 2/14 (8:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.): The resident said someone entered the apartment and took a 32-inch Vizio TV, PS3, and a laptop. Most likely the entry point was a kitchen window.

Thefts

• Fenwick Place, 30350, 2/10: The victim said the VA shipped her medication (Lorazepam) to her mailing address on the 7th at 4:30 p.m. However, it appears the mail was taken before she received it.
• 100 Embassy Row, 30328, 2/10: A 23-year-old student at the Art Institute said she left the classroom, leaving her iPad and laptop bag behind. The bag was turned in by one of the staff but the iPad was missing.
• 2600 block Spring Creek Lane, 30350, 2/11: A 24-year-old man said his car has been stolen although he admitted he’s a few payments behind on it (My money’s on repossession).
• 6690 Roswell Road, 30328, 2/11: A 54-year-old man said that following his workout at the LA Fitness, he received a text from his bank that a $4,919 charge had been declined at the Apple Store. He checked his wallet, finding that his driver's license and four credit cards were missing. Capt. Rose: Lots and lots of thefts at LA Fitness. Cameras at the entrance would help—something they apparently don’t deem needed.
• On February 12, a cab driver said he picked up a female at the Magic City Strip Club in Atlanta,
  conveniently located in the 200 block of Forsyth Street and took her to the Wyndham Hotel on Powers Ferry Road. She said she would get her money she owed from her room. She never returned. She was described as a white or Hispanic female, 23 to 28 years of age and about 5’7”, 115 to 120 pounds. She had long blond streaked hair.
• 4920 Roswell Road, 30342, 2/12: A juvenile female reported she went to Kroger and left her iPhone on the self-checkout lane. The store video shows someone picking it up and walking out with it.
• 5600 Roswell Road (Taco Mac), 30342, 2/12: Just before 10 p.m., the manager of the Taco Mac reported that a party of four ran out on a $72 tab. All four ran in different directions and absconded from the restaurant. One suspect was a black female, 20’s nose piercing, short, with shoulder length hair. Another suspect was a black male, with dreadlocks in the center of his head like a Mohawk. The other two were described as black males in their 20’s.
• A 36-year-old woman said someone stole makeup from her hotel room at the Fairfield Inn and
  Suites at 1145 Hammond Drive on Feb. 13.
• 300 block Winding River Drive, 30350, 2/14: A man reported that his ex-girlfriend stole his computer tablet and changed the passwords on three Google accounts. She also sent his new girlfriend an e-mail.
• A woman called police to say that she purchased a car off Craigslist and believed it to be stolen. The officer checked it and it was indeed stolen from DeKalb County. As such, the car was impounded.
• 5600 Roswell Road, 30342, 2/15: A 58-year-old woman reported that her 2015 Honda CRV with a North Carolina tag was stolen. It was last seen in front of Marlow’s Tavern in the Prado.
• 1155 Mt. Vernon Highway, 30328, 2/15: A 63-year-old man reported he accidentally left his cellphone in the 5-Below Store. He left, and then later realized he left it there, then returned to discover that the phone was gone. The phone is a Samsung Edge 7 valued at $700. The employee at 5-Below said they have video cameras, but they don't work.

Thefts From Vehicles

• 7200 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, 30328, 2/11: Backpack, Ugg boots
• 6800 block of Peachtree Dunwoody Road, 30328, 2/11 Nothing taken
• 2000 block of Dunwoody Heritage Drive, 30350, 2/13: Louis Vuitton purse, Tony Birch wallet, 2 FT cards, Ted Baker sunglasses from open garage door overnight.
• Peachtree Hollow Court, 30328, 2/13: Laptop; unlocked vehicle.
• 1125 Hammond Drive, 30328, 2/13 (Parking deck): $350 cash, forced entry
• 6300 block Barfield Road, 30328, 2/14: Purse; unlocked car
• 1100 Lake Hearn Drive, 30342, 2/14: Glock 9mm; victim suspects the valet
• 200 block Hammond Drive, 30328, 2/14: Checks; victim suspects auto shop employee
• 1155 Mt. Vernon Highway, 30328, 2/14: HP laptop

Fraud

• 5920 Roswell Road, 30328, 2/10: Lowe’s security told officers that two men, one a black male, dressed in all black and the second, a black male with a red hoodie, entered the store and went to the flooring department where they picked out a carpet. They walked out with the carpet, passed the registers, and then returned to customer service where they attempted to return the carpet for a refund of $178. They used an ID of a man that matched the ID of another fraudulent return.
• A 29-year-old woman called police and reported that she was contacted by her bank that her
  credit card was being used at a Macy’s. She informed them she was not there and so the purchase was declined. She said that she was at McDonald's at 6360 Powers Ferry Road earlier and believes that her card was traced or copied. She recalled the employee was wiping her card with receipt paper, telling her the card was dirty. She is not sure that the card was copied but thought it was odd. Capt. Rose: It is more convenient to pay with the debit/credit card but you inherit the risk.
• A 58-year-old woman said she was looking for part-time work and answered an e-mail ad on the
  internet for a mystery shopper. She was contacted by a woman calling herself Brenda Adkins who sent the victim a check for $3,150, which she deposited in her account that the bank later closed due to the fraudulent activity. Adkins gave a phone number listed in Jacksonville, Florida, and sent the check from Remsen, New York. Capt. Rose: You should already have recognized this as a scam setup. It sounds like she deposited the check before sending funds along to a second address. Although her account was shut down from fraudulent investigation, she didn’t lose money according to the report.
• A 25-year-old man said someone opened several accounts in his name, nine total. Two were with
  the Department of Education.
• A 77-year-old man reported that someone opened a Dillard’s credit account in his name. He believes that someone took mail from his box in mid-January.

Other Things

• Gettysburg Place and Roberts Drive, 30350, 2/11: Just after midnight, a traffic sergeant observed a car on GA-400 northbound in the emergency lane at about 95 miles per hour. He exited onto Northridge where the police unit lit up the blue lights. The car then fled. The sergeant, having only traffic charges, terminated the stop when he realized the car was accelerating to elude him. Minutes later, the sergeant drove up on the car at Dunwoody Lakes/Dunwoody Hills Condos, where it had wrecked into the brick sign; he found that the driver fled. A passing motorist said she saw a male running into the woods. A search was initiated but the driver was not located. Inside the car was a couple of grams of cocaine, pills, syringes, a cellphone, $4. A gun .22 caliber Rohm pistol was also recovered.
• An 18-year-old woman reported that someone she did not know knocked on her door. She
  believes the man is involved in drugs. Furthermore, she said her cousin owes this person around $800, although she’s not sure it’s for drugs. The man has consistently hounded her for this debt to be paid and offered to erase the debt in exchange for sex, something she will not do. She knows the man by his street name only.
• A 27-year-old man said he was driving on Abernathy under GA-400 around 11:30 on February 12.
  He has a rear window with the following writing: No Ban, No War, No Trump. A truck pulled up next to him and a man yelled obscenities at him, including the dreaded F-word. The driver of the truck then accelerated, causing exhaust smoke to obscure the man’s view. Both vehicles pulled onto Williamson Road. The truck then made a U-turn and drove away, again dispensing exhaust smoke. The man in the car took, or said he took a photo. The tag on the truck came out to a nearby address. The officer spoke with the person at the house the truck was registered to. The man acknowledged seeing the car and writing on the window but he and his passenger denied making those statements.
• 8200 block Roswell Road, 30350, 2/12: Around 7 p.m., a patrol officer spotted a man in the center of Northridge Road, picking up items from the road. The officer stopped and spoke to the man, and noticed he was bleeding about the side of his head. A car stopped at the nearby Chevron and that driver exited and appeared to be upset with the man who was in the center of the road. Turns out the man had taken a taxi from Stone Mountain to Sandy Springs and refused to pay the $120 fare, then jumped from the moving car. He claims the driver pushed him out of the moving car, from the back seat. Neither man was arrested. The injured man declined medical attention.
• A woman reported that she received a delivered Valentine’s card at her office. The card had a
  rather lame poem but an excerpt read: “I would like to be your Valentine. I want to be your moon cause cool, calm, and always there.” She said the note was delivered with chocolate and flowers. The person delivering it was a black male, 5’5”, short hair, baggy red shirt and black pants and black sneakers.

Arrests

• 5610 Roswell Road, 30342, 2/10 (Target): Store security observed a man who picked up a iRobot Vacuum Cleaner and left the store without paying for it. Officers were notified and were at the store when the man walked out. He was detained and then arrested on felony shoplifting charges. It appears this is connected to previous thefts of vacuum cleaners at this and other locations by more than one person. The person arrested was wanted in DeKalb County for shoplifting as well.
• On Feb. 12, following a traffic stop on Roswell Road, the driver was found to have two outstanding warrants from Atlanta police on traffic charges. He was turned over to APD.

Image via Sandy Springs Police Department