Man Claims Gerbils Trapped In Car So Officers Can Unlock His Vehicle

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 Aug. 6-12:

Robbery

• 600 block of Riverlawn Ct. 30339 8/9: A 28-year-old woman reported that on the previous Sunday around 11:45 pm, she took Uber to Riverlawn Court to visit a friend. According to her, when she arrived, her friend told her by phone to walk around to the back of the complex to use the rear gate. She did so and came across two men, one of whom pulled a gun on her. They took several items from her, then fled in a blue SUV. The men were black males, one wearing dreadlocks and black basketball shorts. The officer asked her why she reported the robbery on Tuesday instead of Sunday when it happened. She said she couldn’t call because the robbers took her phone—meaning she didn’t have the capability to think through the situation and locate an alternate phone sometime between Sunday and Tuesday.

Burglary

• 7000 Roswell Road, 30328, 8/7: While hosting a pool party, the host allowed someone to use the bathroom in her apartment. Later she found that her son’s X-Box game system was missing.
• 6940 Roswell Road, 30328, 8/7: The resident returned home from vacation and found that someone had entered her home. The area was ransacked but the only item missing is $40 cash. A second burglary was reported on the 8th.
• 19 Cedar Run, 30350, 8/7: The resident returned home from work and found the door unlocked. Missing are a 40 and 32-inch televisions. Entry was from a rock thrown through a bedroom window.
• 8600 block Roswell Road, 30350, 8/9: ECR Company’s alarm activated just after midnight. Responding police found that a door (glass) was broken and it appeared entry was made. A K-9 request was made. Igor and handler arrived to check it out. No suspect found but the place had been burglarized. A small amount of cash was missing.
• 7300 block Cardigan Circle, 30328, 8/11: A resident said someone entered her home and took her purse and car keys. The car was stolen but recovered later that night. (SEE ARREST BELOW) Stolen was $20 cash and an ID badge.
• 3000 block of Spalding Drive, 30350, 8/11: Responding to an alarm, officers found forced entry to some French doors on the side of the home. At the time of the report, nothing was reported missing. The resident said when he left that morning, just after 10 a.m., he noticed a grey Dodge station wagon driven by a white male with dark hair, early 20’s, driving on Spalding. He thought it to be suspicious.
• 600 block Edgewater Trail 30328 8/11 Responding to an alarm, officers found that an outside door appeared to have been tampered with. It appears that the suspect(s) did not gain entry to the home.

Thefts

• On Aug. 8, a 20-year old woman said someone entered her locker at Lifetime Fitness and took
  several items.
• Chattahoochee Bluff Drive, 30350, 8/11: A resident called police and said that two women stole none landscaping rocks from his lawn around 9 a.m. that morning. He said a truck backed into his driveway and a woman got out and knocked on his door. He answered the door and spoke to the woman who asked for directions. Afterwards, he walked back inside and then saw, through a window, a second woman loading landscaping rocks into the bed of the truck. The truck then left. He drove around looking for the truck but was unable to locate it. The truck was a blue pickup with a bed cover. The woman who asked for directions was a white female, mid 40’s, 5’-3”, medium build and weight and wore a black lace transparent top.

Thefts From Vehicles

• 290 Hilderbrand Drive, 30328, 8/6: Stratocaster guitar, laptop, headphones,, other
  items.
• 5565 New Northside Drive, 30339, 8/6: Stihl lawn edger
• 5670 Roswell Road, 30328, 8/6: $6,000 cash for payroll
• 900 block of Windsor Pkwy, 30342, 8/7: Purse, wallet, contents $100 cash.
• 5800 block of Greenbriar Road, 30328, 8/8: Nothing taken /unlocked car
• 5900 block of Brookgreen Road, 30328, 8/8: Rolex Presidential Watch and $40 cash
• 6400 block of Vernon Woods Drive, 30328, 8/8: Nothing taken / unlocked car
• 5900 block of River Chase Drive, 30328, 8/8: Laptop taken / unlocked car
• 400 block of Bridges Creek Trail, 30328, 8/8: SW .40 cal pistol, Stinger flashlight
• 6300 Powers Ferry Road, 30339, 8/8: Dell laptop / unlocked car
• 300 block of Hammond Drive, 30328, 8/8: Wheels stolen from bed of truck
• 600 block of Carriage Drive (x2), 30328, 8/8: Nothing taken
• Bridges Creek Trail, 30328, 8/8: Suspects seen on video.
• 8911 Roswell Road (x2), 30350, 8/11: Gym bag and contents
• 400 block of Sutters Point, (12:30 a.m.), 30328, 8/12: 2 male suspects took off, got into a black Tahoe/Nothing taken

Assault

• 8337 Roswell Road, 30350, 8/6: A woman said she came into a beauty supply store and was elbowed by another person. In response, she pushed that person who, in her response to the response, and with the help of another person, punched the victim. She said she knew the other person and there was “bad blood.” She was taken to the hospital.

Fraud

• A man said he sold two handguns in exchange for a rifle and $300. He met the person at the Target
  parking lot and made the sale/exchange. Later, he discovered the $300 (in $20 bills) were counterfeit.
• A man reported he received a call from a man who identified himself as a deputy sheriff. He
  informed the man he had a warrant for him for missing jury duty and deputies were on the way to arrest him. He was instructed to go to the federal building downtown but while driving there, remain on a phone line and further instructions would be provided. Now if you haven’t figured this out yet, it’s a scam that shows up occasionally. The phone numbers were all fake and “spoof” numbers. The man did not follow the instructions so he didn’t lose money. The caller said he was Deputy Stanley Wynn and Lt. Alvarez. Capt. Rose says: The reason they want you to stay on the phone while driving to the federal building is to
  redirect you to someplace where you’ll pay the “fine."
• On Aug. 8 a woman reported that she received a strange e-mail saying, “Catch me if you can.”
  Shortly after, she received an alert e-mail from SunTrust Bank that the settings on her account had been changed and $9,500 had been paid from the account.
• Return of the grandma scam: A 91-year-old woman reported that she received a phone call on the 9th, from someone claiming to be her grandson who was in Iowa. He was crying and said he was arrested for drugs. He needed money for bail. Unfortunately, she believed the caller and went to the Kroger and purchased $2,000 in Apple iTunes cards. She gave the suspect the code and the money was immediately withdrawn. He then tried to convince her to go to CVS and do the same thing but she then figured she had been taken and refused.
• Another woman said that she received a call from someone saying he was her nephew whom she had
  not seen in ten years and who was currently living in Peru. He said he was coming to visit but was laid over in Mexico and needed to pay a fine of $1,300. She said she didn’t have that much so he convinced her to transfer what she had ($950), which she did to a man named Gerardo Villcarreal Damian. Of course she called the nephew the following day and he said he was not aware of any of it. Rose: DON’T be gullible. Be politely skeptical. Ask questions. When someone wants to talk about you providing money, ask, ask, ask.

Other Things

• On Aug. 6, cops and fire personnel received a call that an animal was locked in a car
  at the Starbucks at 6160 Roswell Road. When they got there, they found that the animals in the car were gerbils. The owner of said car/gerbils called back (he was the original caller) and said he locked his keys in the car but there were no gerbils. He said he wanted to cancel the call and would call a locksmith instead. The patrol sergeant arrived and spoke with the caller and in fact identified the animals as gerbils, then asked why the man lied about it. He apparently wanted the police or fire department to open the car at no charge compared to the locksmith charge but then, I guess, worried about getting in trouble with the gerbil thing so he tried to cancel it all out. The man was charged with making false representation to the police on the 911 call.
• A Cadillac Escalade, stolen from Concourse Parkway, showed up (at least in parts) in Tennessee.
  Tennessee Department of Revenue officials recovered the engine and transmission during a vehicle inspection. It appears the parts were purchased on Craigslist. Further investigation yielded the information on the seller, who apparently has or had other sales ads similar to this one. That investigation is ongoing.
• Cops were called to meet with a 49-year-old woman who said that on the 10th of August, she
  observed on Facebook that her husband married another woman this month. She said she married him in 2009 but recently separated in March.
• A man reported that he was rear ended on I-285 East at GA-400. He and the other driver pulled to the
  side and exchanged information, then decided to handle it among themselves. The complainant said the other driver won’t answer the phone and he has no information on his vehicle. The officer informed him he couldn’t write an accident report because the two men entered into a civil agreement. He did however offer to make an “information” report.

Arrests

• Warrant (failure to appear on traffic charge -- Gwinnett County), 1700 block of Brandon Hall, 30350.
• Warrant (probation violation/trespassing -- Gwinnett County), 8300 block of Roswell Road, 30350.
• Warrant (failure to appear on traffic charge -- Terrell County), 8100 block of Roswell Road, 30350.
• Warrant (criminal tresspassing -- Cob County), I-285/Northside Drive, 30328.
• Roswell-Belle Isle Rd, 30342, 8/7: License suspended for child support
  non-payment
• Warrant (failure to appear -- Norcross police), 1000 Johnson Ferry Road, 8/8
• A man was arrested at Target after he entered, took a display bike valued at $300, then tried to
  leave without paying for it. He was arrested.
• A 14-year-old juvenile female is charged with stealing a $650 cellphone, not knowing she was on video.
  Cops identified her and she admitted stealing the phone. It was recovered. She was left in the custody of her family pending court dates.
• Three men are charged with making false police reports after detectives concluded a shooting
  report was made up. The “victim” said he was shot at the BP on Northside Drive although no evidence, including blood or a noise heard by witnesses (BP employee) could be located. The three men were charged with making false statements.
• 45-year old Tonya Danyial Monroe, the grandmother charged with killing her
  grandchild with methamphetamine was in court on a preliminary hearing. The DA’s office added one count of malice murder and one count of felony murder totaling 5 charges against her. Indictment will commence within 90 days. She obviously has no bond.
• 1165 Perimter Center West, 30328, 8/8: Officers were called to the Goodwill Store regarding a shoplifter. They were told a woman was in the fitting room and concealing items to take without paying. When she exited, the officer stopped and questioned her. She had clothing in her large pocketbook that she said she brought with her to “match” with the other clothing at the Goodwill Store. Those items included a dress and swimsuit. She was charged with shoplifting and taken to jail.
• Three Riverwood High School students were arrested on August 11th after reports from a nearby road
  crew that a car passed them several times and inside the car, sat four young black males, two of whom waved guns as to be clearly seen. Officers checked the area for 30-45 minutes before one officer spotted a car, described by the witness as silver sedan. He observed two occupants then saw a third passenger suddenly sit up as if to have been lying in the seat to avoid being seen. The officers stopped the car and observed three 17-year-old males. They also located two weapons described by the witness. As they were speaking to the three, another call came out from River Edge Pkwy of shots fired at or in the area of another complainant. The lookout matched the subjects were were being detained. Witnesses confirmed these to be the same suspects although the original lookout was on four males. The fourth was not located or the witness counted incorrectly. Oddly enough, the suspects, who had passed through the intersection of Raider Drive and Powers Ferry four times, brandishing weapons, were a mere 25 yards from the same intersection when the officer pulled them over.
• A patrol officer spotted a silver Kia Soul on Northside Drive and Powers Ferry Road that he noticed was
  driving in an erratic manner. He followed on onto Old Powers Ferry and Dupree where the car ran a stop sign then accelerated as if to elude the officer. The car soon turned into a driveway and two young males bolted from the car and ran. The officer then was told via 911 that the car was just reported stolen from Cardigan Circle. Inside the car smelled like marijuana and an X-Box game system was discovered. A short time later, a juvenile was located in the 6200 block of Powers Ferry Road. He told the officers he was driving the car, having been given the keys by another juvenile who already had possession of it. He said there were originally three others with him, one who was in possession of a gun. On the juvenile was a small bag of marijuana and a debit card that did not belong to him. He was released to his mother pending court. He is charged with various traffic charges, possessing a stolen car, marijuana possession and obstruction.

Image via Sandy Springs Police Department