Man Loses More Than $50,000 On Fake Mission Trip: Blotter

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. 18-24:

Burglary

• 5501 Glenridge Drive, 30342, 8/18: The victim said she was moving into the apartment and at some point left her purse on the table. About an hour later, she and the others in the apartment noticed the purse was missing. One of her credit cards was used at a Chevron Station just after the theft.
• 300 block of Northridge Drive, 30350, 8/20: Cops were called to meet SSFD on a fire at a coin laundry. The officer found a brick inside on the ground and shattered glass from the door. A cash register was on the floor, drawers open, no money visible. The owner later said $150 cash was missing from the register.
• 8300 block of Roswell Road, 30350, 8/21 (business burglary): The owner said sometime overnight, someone came into the business and took four security cameras, worth about $100 each. The owner said the place was locked but no forced entry was found.
• 7100 block of Roswell Road, 30328, 8/21: A 53-year-old woman reported someone entered her apartment and placed a book on her sofa. The book contained an “account card” in a man’s name, which looked to be used as a bookmark.

Theft

• 700 block of Abernathy Road, 30328, 8/18: The owner of a concrete company said his Kenmore flatbed truck and metal concrete forms were stolen. GPS showed the truck to be on Wayside Lane in Dallas. The truck was later found on the side of the road and had been torched.
• 6350 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, 30328, 8/18: A 57-year-old woman reported she was shopping at Costco and used her debit card. She remembered putting the card in her pocket when she left. Later, she discovered that the card was missing. Later still, she found out the card had been used at Sam’s and Costco in Alpharetta for about $100.
• 1400 block of Spring Creek Lane, 30350, 8/18: A 52-year-old woman reported her Glock 22 valued at $300 was stolen from her apartment.
• 6300 block of Roswell Road, 30328, 8/19: The staff at Med Spa reported a woman had $1,000 worth of Botox and fillers. At payment time, she said she left her purse in the car. She never returned. She was described as expressionless.
• 900 block of Brandywine Circle, 30350, 8/22: A 35-year-old man said a package was stolen from his home. The package was delivered around 10:45 a.m. Shortly after, a skinny white male wearing a blue shirt and black shorts got out of a dark vehicle and took the package, which contained AA and AAA batteries.
• 6690 Roswell Road 30328 8/23 (LA Fitness): A 61-year-old man said between 7 p.m. and 7:50 p.m., someone took his gym bag, clothing, keys to his car, home and business. The lock on his locker had been cut. Two other members said their locks were cut, but nothing was missing.
• 5555 Roswell Road, 30342, 8/23: A 46-year-old woman reported that an acquaintance who helped her move into her apartment took her 1997 Ford F-150 truck and has absconded.
• 5580 Roswell Road, 30342, 8/23: A 14-year-old juvenile reported she placed her book bag under the bench in the Lifetime Fitness women’s locker room. About an hour and a half later, she returned to discover that it was gone.
• An 80-year-old man reported that he and his organization called Voices of the Sword
  planned a mission trip to Israel. He found a website called missiontripairfare.com and paid $23,000 up front for reservations. The confirmation said he would receive tickets anywhere from after the payment to a week prior to departure. Two days before departure, he was contacted by the company and told there was a problem with the airline and the tickets were cancelled. He spoke to a man named Fred who was the financial manager, who said a refund would be forthcoming. At some point, the victim began to suspect that his refund was in jeopardy so he drove to 10 Glenlake Parkway Suite 130 where he was told the company -- meaning one person -- rented space there. His attorney did some looking around and found that the website was under the same name as the company rental agent. The person in question was the subject of several civil cases and had a bankruptcy on record. The victim ultimately spent another $28,000 to go on the trip. Capt. Steve Rose says: This sound familiar? A similar fraud was reported from a church in Florida a couple of weeks ago. Same circumstances.
• 6600 block of Glenridge Drive, 30328, 8/24: A representative for Ashton Woods Homes reported that between Aug. 21-24, someone took framing materials valued at $20,000 from a work site.
• A 66-year-old man reported he posted an ad on Craigslist in the “Looking for Love” category and
  received a response from a woman. She arrived at his home via Uber, and the couple danced, drank and enjoyed their mutual company for a period. Later, the woman took the victim to the bedroom for a non-sexual massage. The victim said he passed out until about 3 a.m. When woke up, he discovered the woman was gone, as was his cellphone, camera equipment and $480 in cash. She was described as a black female, 5’8”, medium build, in her mid-30's, tattoo on her left breast and went by the name “Desire.” Capt. Rose: Well, what are you you going to do? Folks, before you go looking for Desire in the interest of
  justice for the victim, know that all these years in police work tell me that Desire may not be her real name.
• 5000 block of Cross Gate Drive, 30328, 8/24: A 78-year-old woman reported her platinum ring with diamonds valued at $10,000 was stolen from her bathroom dressing table drawer. She had two separate contractors in the home during that time who had access to the area. Capt. Rose: On those dates you’re having work done, especially inside work, remember that if someone wants to commit a theft, they’ll look in the obvious places, somewhere they can quickly scan and steal—such as a drawer or jewelry box. Make them unavailable. Just for that period, relocate those valuables where someone would have to look for a while to find them.

Thefts From Vehicles

• 1000 Johnson Ferry Road, 30342, 8/18: A Mectronic batter and other items from the trunk.
• 800 block of Abington Way, 30328, 8/19: Suspect: young black male, black hat, black shirt and jeans seen running from vehicle at 1:30 a.m.
• 1700 block of Marsh Trail Cir, 30350, 8/19: Nothing missing
• 6800 block of PDR, 30342, 8/19: Samsung phone
• 700 block of Orchard Ct., 30328, 8/19: $200 cash and Surface laptop
• 500 block of Highland Park Trl, 30350, 8/19: S&W 9mm gun and Hennessy Cognac
• 700 block of Creekgarden Ct., 30339, 8/20: Backpack, later found.
• 700 block of Dalrymple Rd., 30350, 8/21: Computer bag (no computer)
• 6800 block of PDR, 30328, 8/21 iPhone, later found in another victim’s car.
• 7400 block of Highland Bluff, 30350, 8/21: Credit card
• 700 block of Kilmory Close, 30350, 8/21: Two Stihl leaf blowers
• 5600 Roswell Road, 30342, 8/21 (Lifetime Fitness): purse found near the car.
• 1300 block of Marsh Trail Cir, 30350, 8/22: Car’s rental agreement
• 5800 block of Garber Drive, 30328, 8/23: Rossi .357 pistol
• 200 block of Franklin Road, 30342, 8/23: Parking deck, suspects arrested

Other Things

• After attending the unification and romantic union of a couple who had just married, a boyfriend
  and girlfriend got into an argument resulting in the girlfriend being pushed into some bushes alongside a driveway. No word if the fight began with “Well, now that all our friends are married, when are we getting married?”
• 5600 block of Roswell Road, 30342, 8/18: Patrol officers were called to behind the Metro PCS building regarding a smell of smoke. They found a pallet that was partially burnt and still smoldering. A witness said he saw a man attempt to burn something at the car wash located at Shell station at 5700 Roswell Road. There, the officers found a pile of semi-burnt clothing. The witness said he knew the suspect. The case is under investigation and charges are expected once the offender is found.
• 1600 block of Monterrey Pkwy, 30350, 8/18: A 21-year-old woman house sitting at an apartment reported her dog began growling at something near the patio of the apartment. A neighbor knocked on the door and told her something was on fire on her porch. Someone stacked towels up against the screen door and set them on fire. She believes she knows who started the fire, a former girlfriend of the resident.
• 5900 block of PDR, 30342, 8/21: A representative of Walden Security said she terminated an employee and during the escort from the building, the employee took a bottle of water and poured it over her head.
• 6900 block Roswell Road (IRS Scam), 30328, 8/22: A 55-year-old woman said she received a recorded call from “Steve” with the IRS who told her she owed $500 and on the verge of a suspended license and jail if she did not pay. She called Steve and was told she needed to pony up some iTunes cards to cover the $500 debt. She then called H&R Block, who told her it was a scam. She said “Steve” and two other “supervisors” sounded Middle Eastern.
• 1500 block of Wingate Way, 30350, 8/22: A 40-year-old woman said a man, whom she used to do drugs with, contacted her, against her permission. She is in rehab and discontinued her friendship with him, for obvious reasons. He continued to contact her by text, phone, photos, despite her insistence that he stop. This past week she found a GPS tracker in her car that had been placed under her seat. She believes it is that person. She has since obtained a temporary protective order from the court.
• 8767 Roswell Road, 30350, 8/24: A person named Iceland said another person named Chicago punched her in the eye, mouth, and choked her.
• A 27-year-old woman from McDonough reported that she contacted her ex-boyfriend regarding money he owed her. She asked him to text a photo of the money, which he did. She told the officer that came to the residence on Forest Valley Road around 2:30 p.m. Aug. 11 to retrieve the money. When she walked up the driveway, the ex-boyfriend came out with a gun and pointed at her while telling her to “Get the f------ out of here!” (I’m assuming an exclamation mark here). She did so. He later texted her a photo of him holding the gun to his head with the text that read, in poor grammar, “If you don’t be with me, I’m going to kill myself.

Arrests

• Narcotics detectives arrested a man for possessing just under 17 ounces of cocaine. The investigation into his connections, associates and so forth is ongoing.
• 5600 block of Roswell Road, 30342, 8/22: An officer said he was on patrol just before 10 p.m. He was dispatched to a suspicious person who he saw, minutes later, twisting a street sign, in what appeared to be an attempt to dislodge it. He told the officer he tried to twist the sign off the post because he thought it was stupid. He was arrested.
• 8100 block of Colquitt Road, 30350, 8/19: An officer was called to meet with a witness to a previous burglary, who spotted one of the suspects. The officer approached the subject in question, who was sitting in a car, near one of the apartment buildings. The officer recognized the passenger as the same from the lookout posted earlier. He noticed the man hiding something in his hand. Despite repeated request to show his hands, the man refused. The suspect eventually did show his hand, and the crack pipe contained in them. He was arrested on disorderly conduct charges, pending the burglary investigation.
• 5570 Roswell Road, 30342, 8/22 (Target): A female was arrested after shoplifting children’s clothing.

Image via Sandy Springs Police Department