Sandy Springs Blotter: Police Probe Several Apartment Burglaries

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 Nov. 29-Dec. 5:

Burglary

• 2400 block of Spring Creek Trail, 30350, Dec. 1 — 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.: The resident said when he returned home, he found that his front door had been forced open. He is missing an X-Box Game System and laptop.
• 4900 block of The Valley, 30328, Dec. 1 — 8:30 a.m. to 3:05 p.m.: The resident came home and found her front door unsecured due to being forced. Her 60-inch television, laptop, Apple iPod, $260 cash, blankets, and jewelry were missing.
• 9000 block of River Run, 30350, Dec. 1 — The resident called police after noticing that some jewelry and other items were missing from the house. The burglary, according to the victim, probably occurred around the first week or so in August.
• 8300 block of Roswell Road, 30350, Dec. 1 — 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.: The resident said someone forced his front door open and took three laptops, $800 cash and personal documents.
• 8100 block of River Circle, 30350, Dec. 2 — 9:10 a.m. to 3:27 p.m.: The resident returned home and found that a rear window had been opened. She checked her house and found that a number of jewelry items were missing as well as an iPad.
• 700 block of Jefferson Drive, 30350, Dec. 2 — 7:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.: The resident said that her front door was unsecured when she arrived home from work. Missing are three televisions.
• 3900 block of Treelodge Pkwy, 30350, Dec. 2 — 7:15 a.m. to 7 p.m.: The victim said that someone came in through an unlocked bedroom window and took a TV and other items.
• 8400 block of Roswell Road, 30350, Dec. 3 — The victim said that following a small fire in the apartment on Nov. 23, they were not allowed back in the apartment until repairs were made. At that time they were allowed in, the victim found that several items were stolen including jewelry, clothing, a laptop, camera, guitar, and other items.
• 415 Morgan Falls Road, 30350, Dec. 3 — The resident said someone came in through an unlocked window. Items taken include cash and jewelry.
• 8404 Roswell Road, Nov. 22 to Dec. 3 (reported Dec. 3) — The resident said they were out of their apartment due to a fire (same as above) and upon being allowed back in, found that someone had taken a 40-inch TV and two laptops.
• 200 block of Franklin Road, 30342, Dec. 3 — 9:30 a.m. to 3:52 p.m.: Someone forced the front door to the victim’s apartment. The victim returned home, found the damaged door, and saw that a light was on in the bedroom. She got her dog and walked to the leasing office to call the police. Two televisions were taken. A second burglary was reported in this complex.
• 4735 Roswell Road, 30342, Dec. 3 — 4:45 p.m: The resident said she was home sick and at some point, heard a noise coming from the front of the apartment. She called out to her daughter thinking she was arriving home. She then heard someone run from the apartment. The victim called the police and apartment maintenance. They found damage to the front door where it had been forced open. Nothing was taken.
• 240 East Belle Isle Road, 30342, Dec. 3 — 7:30 a.m. to 5:20 p.m.: The resident called to say that when he returned home, he found that his door had been forced open. Missing are two MacBooks, a TV and a watch. A second burglary was reported in this area.
• 1400 block of Spring Creek Drive, 30350, Dec. 3 — 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m: The resident found a damaged front door and backed off and called the police. The victim found that a TV, DVD player, laptop, and some jewelry were missing.
• 1400 block of Spring Creek Lane, 30350, Dec. 3 — 6:20 a.m. to 7 p.m.: The resident returned home from work and found her front door kicked in. Missing are several items but were not listed on the front page of the report.
• 300 block of Summer Terrace, 30350, Dec. 3 — Same thing: The victim was gone from 0700-2000 and on return found the front door forced open. A laptop computer was taken.
  
• 200 block of Hampton Drive, 30350, Dec. 3 — 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.: The resident said when she came home, she found her front door had been kicked in. She reported that several pieces of jewelry were taken.
• Highland Park Trail, 30350, Dec. 4 — Again, front door kicked in. The victim was alerted by his alarm company. He discovered that his PS4 game system was gone as well as other video game items.
• 5700 block of Glenridge Drive, 30342, 6 p.m. Dec. 3 to 9 a.m. Dec. 4: A storage room of the Stratford Apartments was broken into. Several HVAC tools were taken. Other marketable items were overlooked meaning he perp wanted the tools. They included a Freon scale, hand grinder, oxygen tank, brazing rods, and so on.
• 7200 block of Riverside Drive, 30328, Dec. 4 — 1:33 p.m.: A resident called 911 saying someone was in her home. She could hear movement in the home and knew that no one else should be there. Responding officers found a maroon Dodge Ram pickup, not belonging to the victim, backed into the driveway. The responding officer rounded the corner of the home and came up on a black male with a tote bag. The man then took off running. The officer noted a second suspect, also a black male, running as well. The first guy was 5’9” and about 175-180 pounds, early to mid-20’s, wearing a blue skull cap, blue jacket, and white pants. He was either bald or had very short hair. The officers set up a perimeter however were unable to locate the two black males. The suspect’s truck was taken for processing. All but a pair of earrings were recovered.

Thefts

• 5600 Roswell Road, 30342, Nov. 29 — The victim said he accidentally left his phone at the Taco Mac restaurant. He checked with them and was told they had not found a phone. The “Find my iPhone” app showed the phone in the vicinity of Kennesaw State University.
• A man reported that his car was stolen from the parking lot of the Sandy Springs Diner, in the 8000 block of Roswell Road, sometime between 8:30 and 11 pm on Nov. 30. The car, a 2005 Volvo, had not been repossessed.
• 2000 block of Jefferson Drive, 30350, Dec. 1 — The resident said that someone took her white gold wedding ring from her bedroom jewelry box. Her sister and brother-in-law were visiting over Thanksgiving. When they left, she noticed the ring missing.
• 8101 Colquitt Road, 30350, Dec. 1 — The victim said that he was in the leasing office where he works and although outside of his office, he could see that a young black male was in his office and had snatched his cellphone from the desk. The black male ran but was nabbed outside the office by a staff member. The victim got his phone back but the black male juvenile was able to free himself and ran off. A bicycle, believed to belong to the suspect, was recovered.
• 400 block of Windridge Drive, 30350, Dec. 3 — The resident said she ordered, and was expecting, a phone delivery through the mail. She did not receive it and upon checking, found that it had been delivered, but apparently stolen from the apartment leasing office.
• 1165 Perimeter Center West, 30328, Dec. 4 — REI employees reported that a black male stole several Leatherman knives and fled the store. He was last seen running towards the MARTA Station. He was described as about 6’3” and wore a gray striped hoodie and baseball (black) cap backwards.

Thefts From Vehicles

• 6120 Roswell Road, 30328, Nov. 29
• 84 Abernathy Road (x2), 30328, Nov. 29
• 7200 block of Glisten Ave, 30328, Nov. 30
• 4589 Roswell Road, 30342, Dec. 1
• 1155 Mt. Vernon Hwy, 30328, Dec. 2
  
• 4700 block of Northside Drive, 30327, Dec. 2
  
• 8115 Colquitt Road, 30350, Dec. 3
  
• 5730 Glenridge Drive, 30342, Dec. 3
  
• Mt. Vernon Circle, 30342, Dec. 4
  
• 151 West Belle Isle Drive, 30342, Dec. 4
  
• 8975 Roswell Road, 30350, Dec. 5

Fraud

• Two people filed fraud reports regarding phones purchased from a man on Instagram. The two said they made arrangements to buy two iPhone 6 phones for a total of $400. They checked the man, whose name is “Stephen Steel” and found him to have 5,000 Instagram followers and a record of good reviews and customer comments. The victim’s finalized the deal and purchased $400 in Green Dot MoneyPak pre-paid cards and via text, provided Steel with the card numbers. According to the victims, Steel was to provide codes which were for pre-orders of the phones, but they did not receive any further correspondence with him. He since blocked them from communication.

Assault

• 8540 Roswell Road, 30350, Dec. 2 — An 18-year-old woman said that she got into an argument with her sister. Her sister got into her truck and drove off, striking the victim with the passenger side view mirror, knocking her down. Her sister stopped and asked if she was okay, then left. The argument started over the fact that the 18-year-old was dating a 33-year-old man.
• Around 3:15 a.m. on Dec. 3, a 31-year-old man was brought to Northside Hospital by his friend after being shot in the side. The man said he was shot in Brookhaven. The man called his brother who took him to the hospital. The victim’s story was conflicted because he said at one point that he was shot at the LaDona Club on Northwood Drive. Although detectives believe the victim is trying to be evasive as to who shot him, they developed leads and secured a warrant for a suspect who has not yet been arrested.

Other Things

• 700 block of Mabry Road, 30328, Nov. 29: A flower pot was removed from its location and rolled down a hill. The tree became dislodged and separated from the pot.
• A woman and her husband were on speaker phone with the woman’s ex-husband when the conversation got nasty. The ex-husband said he would f---- him up and come to his job and take care of him. They called the police because they believe he may carry out the threat.
• Michael and his boyfriend David got into an argument after David placed his hand inside of Michael’s favorite pumpkin-pecan pie. The two, who have been living together since July, got into an argument over the sabotaged pie. David said Michael then assaulted him causing his ear to hurt. Michael said this was over money that David owed ($30) for bills and he got so angry that he stuck his hand in the pie. Michael had a small scratch. One of the two men left for the night in order to let things cool down.

Arrests

• A man got into an argument with his roommate so he decided to leave. However, his roommate refused to let him and yelled and screamed at him — all of which was captured on his cellphone. The roommate was arrested.
• 300 block of Mt. Vernon Hwy, 30328, Nov. 30 — Cops arrested one man after the homeowner found him at the back door of the residence asleep just before 6 a.m. The man was intoxicated and unable to explain why he was there. He was arrested.
• In what is another case of bad judgment, a woman on Cimarron Parkway called police after her ex-boyfriend and now current roommate, got angry and kicked in her bedroom door where she and her male friend were. The ex-boyfriend trashed her guitar and other belongings. He admitted to the officer he had anger issues. He was arrested.
• 7525 Roswell Road, 30350, Dec. 1 — A male juvenile was detained by Publix store employees after stealing several items and attempting to walk out of the store. He was turned over to his family pending court appearances.
• The Street Crimes Unit received a tip that a fugitive was staying at the Inn Town Suites on Hammond Drive. They located a man exiting the back of the hotel and confronted him. The following took place: He ran, they released the K-9, he was caught — wrong guy. They saw the suspect leave a room and they made eye contact. The suspect ran.
• After a short pursuit, the man was caught (No K-9). This turned out to be the right guy. On him was just over 40 grams of cocaine, another 43 vials of cocaine, over 100 pieces of pink clear substance believed to be bath salts, two digital scales, and just under $7,000 cash. A safe was also located in the room. The suspect, Gary Beck, was taken to jail on a lot of drug and other charges, including trafficking cocaine and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The first guy was arrested for obstruction.
• 561 Northridge Road, 30350, Dec. 2 — Around 10:30 p.m., cops responded to a suspicious person in the laundry room of the Emperian Apartments. They found a man inside the room. When confronted, the officers identified themselves, but the man reached for something out of view from the officer. The officer responded with his drawn weapon. The man had reached for, but did not grab a military folding knife that was in the open position. Looks like the man was living in the laundry room. He was later charged with disorderly conduct.