Sandy Springs Blotter: Marijuana Package at Post Office, Teen Robbery Suspects

Photo credit: Sandy Springs police

Editor’s note: the following incidents were taken from the Sandy Springs Police Department’s weekly Wrap Up, which contains some — not all — of the incidents that occurred Jan. 17-22:

Robbery

• 7900 block of Highland Bluff, 30328, Jan, 17: The victim said he was in his house at 2:30 a.m. playing video games when he heard his garage door. He didn’t think anything of it, thinking that it was a friend coming over (at 2:30 am?). He was confronted by two men who came in and pointed a rifle at him. The victim’s roommate, in his room, came down and too was confronted. They were looking for money but the victims did not have it. They took some other personal items and then fled. It looks like they entered from a garage window. Suspects are two young (17-18 years old) black males, both around 5’-7” and 150 pounds. One had a red sweatshirt, the other a black sweatshirt — both with hoods.
• On Jan. 23, the Shell Station at 5700 Roswell Road was robbed at around 5 a.m. by a man described as a Hispanic male who had a small semi-auto weapon. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken. The man was about 25, 5’-6”, skinny, spoke clear English and wore a black jacket and cream colored pants.

Burglary

• 5300 block of Peachtree Dunwoody Road, 30342, Jan. 17: A neighbor heard glass breaking and an alarm activate so he walked to the residence and saw the broken window. He called the police who found that a door had been pried open as well. The home is unoccupied so it appears nothing was taken.
• 6900 block Roswell Road, 30328, Jan. 17: Sometime between 3 a.m. and noon, the victim found forced entry to her front door. Three purses, jewelry, and some clothing, belonging to her husband, were taken. She and her husband were both in jail on domestic violence charges. She found a black hooded sweatshirt in the home that was similar to the one he wore at the time he was arrested. Anyway, she suspects he is the culprit.
• 7700 block of Colquitt Road, 30350, Jan. 17: The leasing office of the Legends of Dunwoody Apartments was entered and a computer was taken from the computer room.
• 8295 Roswell Road, 30350, Jan. 18: Someone entered the Chevron station where they pried open the coin machines and stole cigarettes.
• 975 Johnson Ferry Road, 30342, Jan. 19: Aya Medical Spa reported money stolen from the business. A safe’s door was pried open and around $473 cash was missing.
• 2000 block of Spalding Forest Ct., 30328, Jan. 19: Someone forced entry to the victim’s front door. Some items were taken from the apartment. A second burglary was reported in this complex.
• 1900 block of Jefferson Drive, 30350, Jan. 20: The resident said that she found forced entry to her apartment / condo door indicating someone entered. Her alarm did activate; however, she assumed it was one of her kids who accidentally set it off so she told the alarm company to cancel. The alarm pad had been knocked off the wall. Capt. Steve Rose with the Sandy Springs Police Department says: Sometimes the alarms are smarter than the humans. Don’t assume things like this. Have it checked.
• 5900 block of Greenbrier Road, 30328, Jan. 22: Someone stole an Echo Leaf Blower from the victim’s carport.

Thefts

• 227 Sandy Springs Place, 30328, Jan. 17: An 84-year-old woman reported that while shopping at Kroger, she dropped coupons and upon picking them up, apparently dropped her wallet which was recovered by someone who used it, and $60 cash, later. Of course the victim was then unable to pay for her groceries. A woman is later seen on video using a credit card at Lowes for $300 and at RaceTrac for $49.
• A 23-year old woman reported that her sister, who had been living with her, moved out and took an urn, containing the ashes of their later mother, with her, telling the victim “It’s mine.” The victim said she is willing to “split” the ashes with her but the sister won’t return the ashes.
• 5610 Roswell Road, 30342, Jan. 18: A 28-year-old woman said she accidentally left her iPhone in one of the aisles at the Target store. She left, realized the phone was gone, and returned to the store but the phone was gone. She called the number and was told by a female on the other end of the line that the phone was hers. The victim locked the phone remotely and posted a reward message on the screen.
• 8200 block of Roswell Road, 30350, Jan. 19: A man was in the Dunkin Donuts and walked away from his phone that was on the table. The man told officers that an employee had received a text from an 18-year-old employee of the shop who admitted taking the phone. The report is under investigation.
• 6690 Roswell Road, 30328, Jan. 19: A 72-year-old man said he gym bag was stolen from his unlocked locker at LA Fitness in the mid-afternoon. The suspect then used the man’s keys to drive his 2014 Lexus from the lot, to the north end of the lot. The witness said he saw a man in the victim’s car, who got out and walked away. He was a black male, short hair and around six-feet. He wore an LA Fitness promotional t-shirt. Missing is $68 cash, keys and some credit cards and I.D.
• 6335 Roswell Road, 30328, Jan. 19: A 52-year-old man reported he was at the Just Fitness location between 5 and 8:50 pm. Someone entered his unlocked locker and took his clothes, keys, and cellphone from the location. The person using the locker next to the victim was utilizing a guest pass. Although several other lockers were left unlocked by members, the locker next to the man with the guest pass was hit. They are following up on the lead; however that man is not, at this point, a suspect.
• Staples, 5660 Roswell Road, 30342, Jan. 20: Loss prevention employees said that on Jan. 19, a man uttered 12 fraudulent American Travelers Checks totaling $5,000. The checks were used to purchase gift cards. They interviewed the employee who took the checks between 12:15 p.m. and 1:06 p.m., all from the same person whom the employee described as a black male, scruffy beard, 5’-7” and about 40 years old, who wore leather coat and had sunglasses on. The employee of one month, said she notified her manager of the odd transaction; however, it appears that the manager said he was in fact, not informed. Investigation continues.
• A woman called the police reporting that her roommate stole over $700 in tennis shoes from her and her boyfriend.
• The owner of Pak Mail at 8725 Roswell Road said he came to work and found the money, $65, left in the register, was gone. He played the in-store video that showed his employee open the door, turn off the alarm, and leave the store—all without knowledge of the video I guess. Charges are pending.
• 2 Concourse Pkwy, 30328, Jan. 21: A 43-year-old woman said she was laid off from her job. As a result, she met with security and HR who escorted her to the front desk and gave her a box with her office belongings. Afterwards, she said that her iPad was missing.
• 7555 Roswell Road, 30350, Jan. 22: Someone stole a tailgate from a 2014 Ford F-150 at the Sandy Springs Ford location.
• Target employees reported that a woman took 10 packs of Trojan condoms and attempted to leave. When confronted, she dropped her purse containing the condoms, and fled in a red Pontiac G6 (tag obtained) leaving south on Roswell Road.

Thefts From Vehicles

• 70 Abernathy Road, 30328, Jan. 17
• 7 Concourse Pkwy, 30328, Jan. 18
• 4800 block of Westphalia Ct., 30342, Jan. 19
• 290 Hilderbrand, 30328, Jan. 19
  
• 1001 Johnson Ferry Road, 30342, Jan. 20
• 705 Hammond Drive, 30328, Jan. 20
• 8549 Roswell Road, 30350, Jan. 21

Fraud

• 1900 block of Harbor Pointe, 30350, Jan. 17: A 24-year old woman said she called the 24/7 Locksmith Company to unlock her car. She paid him $65 and used a debit card. She said the man had trouble with the card and swiped it several times. She found later that her card was declined. Checking her account online, she found that the card was used several times including the service charge plus $150, $50, $28.45, all from that company. The bank said the funds were removed from her account. The company said only the one charge was made.
• 2000 block of Treelodge Pkwy, 30350, Jan. 20: Someone used the victim’s personal information to open a Comcast account in December. They racked up a $2,492 bill and of course, never paid on it. She was contacted by the collections company. The account had a 3793 Soap Stove Road, Decatur, address on it.

Assault

• 215 Northwood Drive, 30342, Jan. 17: A 20-year-old woman, working as a bouncer at the LaDona Night Club, said she kicked out a patron who then punched her in the face. The suspect was later arrested.
• 700 block of Mt. Vernon Hwy, 30328, Jan. 17: A 21-year old man from New York was in Atlanta to celebrate the King holiday. While he was sleeping in his hotel bed, a woman came in and started beating on him. Turns out the woman and victim were a couple but have not been together in nine years. She too is from New York. It appears everyone packed up and headed back to New York. The victim said he got a text from a friend, showing that the woman had offered $1,000 to someone who would beat up the victim.
• A woman filed an assault report on her husband who slapped her following an argument that began when he told her earlier that she loved her dog more than him.

Other Things

• Cops received a call regarding a “Person Down” who they found intoxicated, sitting on a stairway with his pants down to his knees, unable to stand, and who had urinated on the stairway.
• A woman told officers that her upstairs neighbors are spying on her and are able to talk to her remotely from their apartment using high-tech equipment. She says they are planning to rob her church.

Arrests

• A driver was cited after passing the officer on the road and displaying his high beams. After he was stopped, the officer smelled marijuana. The man said he had none, the officer found (unsmoked) marijuana in a water bottle. He was cited for that and an illegal use of high beams.
• An officer was called to the Waffle House on Northridge Road just after 1 a.m. A woman, who had been told to leave because she was intoxicated, hanging around but would not order food, came back and hung out over at the jukebox. The officer’s report said she had no ID, refused to answer questions, and otherwise acted in a disorderly manner. She was arrested.
• 8725 Roswell Road, 30350, Jan. 21: A woman was detained for taking coffee and ginger, placing the items in her purse, then leave the Publix store without paying. She was cited pending court, for the $22 theft.
• 1100 Hammond Drive, 30328, Jan. 21: Publix employees detained a man who took several store items, totaling $68, and walked out without paying. He was charged with shoplifting.
• 6120 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, 30328, Jan. 21: Street Crimes Unit members met with the staff at the Hilton Hotel regarding a man refusing to leave. The man was homeless and known to hang around this area, which have been hit over the past months with thefts from cars. The man was also known to the officer for having a healthy theft record. They checked him out and found that he had a backpack full of stuff like phones and a computer, and some headphones, “Beats by Dre” which are favorite theft choices. One of the phones had a message “I am lost, please call [owner’s phone number.] The owner of the phone said it was stolen a couple of weeks before Christmas. The suspect was later charged with theft by receiving.
• 8725 Roswell Road, 30350, Jan. 22: A woman was charged with shoplifting at the Publix store.
• Narcotics detectives arrested a man who had picked up a package containing marijuana from the post office. The U.S. Postal Inspectors contacted the cops after they learned of the items contained in the box mailed to the suspect. He was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

There are many things you and your family can do to deter and prevent thefts and burglaries. For more information, contact Sandy Springs crime-prevention specialist Sgt. Ron Momon at rmomon@sandyspringsga.gov.