Suspect Tries To Rob Man Seeking To Buy iPhone: 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 of the incidents that occurred Dec. 22-28:

Robbery

• 993 Johnson Ferry Road, 30342, 12/22 (SunTrust Bank): Bank employees said that just before 5 p.m., a black male, black jacket, gray skull shirt, black beanie cap and glasses, came into the bank, whistling and filling out paperwork at the center console area. After several minutes, he walked up to a teller and handed her a note stating that this was a robbery and not to pull any alarms and no one would get hurt. He took an undisclosed amount of money, after demanding the note back. He left on foot.
• 4600 block of Roswell Road, 30342, 12/26: A 22-year-old man told officers he intended to purchase an iPhone from a seller on the Let Go app. The seller asked to meet in the construction area next to the Collection Apartments at 4600 Roswell Road at around 9 p.m. (That construction area is very dark at night. That should have been a clue, which it was. The victim told the person to meet inside the CVS). The suspect met the caller inside CVS at Roswell Road and Windsor Parkway. The suspect asked the victim if they could go outside because his kids were in the car. Once outside, the suspect pulled a gun and demanded money. The victim said he had none. The suspect then immediately walked away in the direction of the apartments after getting nothing for his efforts. This location, just south of the Collection Apartments, was the scene of a fraudulent sale of a phone that turned out to be only a calculator. The lookout was similar to this offense.

Burglary

• 500 block of Tahoma Drive, 30350, 12/22: Just before 1 a.m., officers responded to the address where they saw the resident pointing to someone on the ground. Officers found a male.
• 5900 block of Roswell Road, 30328, 12/22: This is the Boston Market restaurant. A vendor found shattered glass near the door and called police. The safe appeared to have pry marks on it, as did a cash register. The crook got some cash from the safe.
• 100 block of Spalding Circle, 30350, 12/24: The caller said that he was on his balcony just after 8 p.m. when he heard a loud, crashing noise coming from his downstairs neighbor’s residence. He yelled down to who he thought was his neighbor, asking if everything was okay. An unfamiliar voice responded. The caller then saw four persons running from the location.
• 100 block of Berkley Drive, 30342, 12/24: The resident was out of town since Dec. 22. Upon return, she noticed forced entry to her front door. Apparently, the burglar was meticulous, leaving behind a flat screen TV, a small gun found in a drawer that the burglar placed on top of the dresser and a check. Missing is s gift card for P.F. Chang for $50. Capt. Steve Rose says: This burglar is an apparent moron.
• 5555 Roswell Road, 30342, 12/27: The resident said someone came into the apartment between 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The victim said he is missing a suitcase valued at $40 and 10 sneakers valued at $1,200. He listed about $500 in additional clothing stolen from the home. The burglar made entry through a bedroom window.
• Marseilles Drive, 30328, 12/27: The resident contacted police from out of town. He told officers that he was watching a wireless video feed of two suspects who were in his home. Officers responded but the suspects were already gone. The caller said he saw the two suspects outside the house and then inside after they forced entry.
• 1000 block of Brentwood Way, 30350, 12/27: The resident said he left for work around 4 p.m. Prior to leaving for work, a visiting acquaintance asked to remain at the home. The resident said no, which angered the man, but he left at the same time the resident did. Upon return home at 9 p.m., the resident found his door kicked in and a MacBook laptop missing. Nothing else was taken. His friend is on the short list.

Thefts

• 900 block of Hammond Drive, 30328, 12/22: Chainsaw stolen
• 5610 Glenridge Drive, 30342, 12/22: Stolen car
• 8455 Roswell Road, 30350, 12/22 (Wendy’s)
• 1100 Johnson Ferry Road, 30342, 12/22 Stolen car
• 1000 block of Garden Court, 30328, 12/23: Stolen car
• 185 Cliftwood Drive, 30328, 12/23: $1,000 stolen from apartment
• 5000 block of Long Island Drive, 30328, 12/23: Gold Rolex taken following party
• 7300 block of Roswell Road, 30350, 12/23: Stolen car
• 5800 block of Glenridge Drive, 30342, 12/26: Stolen car
• Dunwoody Springs Drive, 30328, 12/27: meds taken; resident suspects the house cleaner.
• 100 block of Spalding Drive, 30350, 12/27: Theft of mail
• Roswell Road and Grogans Ferry, 30350, 12/27: Victim said after a night of hard drinking, she believes her car was stolen although she doesn’t remember exactly where she parked it.
• Glenlake Pkwy, 30328, 12/27: Stolen car
• 1100 block of Hammond Drive, 30328 12/28: Theft of mail

Thefts From Vehicles

• 5610 Glenridge Drive, 30342, 12/22
• 100 block of River North Ct., 30328, 12/23
• 6100 block of PDR, 30328, 12/23
• 1155 Mt. Vernon Hwy, 30328, 12/23
• 6851 Roswell Road, 30328, 12/24
• 1155 Mt. Vernon Hwy, 30328, 12/26
• 1165 Perimeter Center West, 30328, 12/27
• 185 Cliftwood Drive, 30328, 12/27
• 8800 block of Long Beach Circle, 30350, 12/28

Other Things

• Fraud, 7000 block of Dunhill Terrace, 30328, 12/22: The resident said someone used her Visa Card to make an online purchase of Air Jordan sneakers at a price of $315 and $5 in tax (That alone is a crime). The shoes were delivered to her home but she will return them to the vender.
• Fraud, 7700 block of Mt. Vernon Hwy, 30328, 12/23: The victim said someone opened various bank accounts in his name, including a Verizon order for a 4G smartphone valued at a cost of $1,239. They delivered the phone to his home. He took possession of the phone to return it. Capt. Steve Rose: So, here are two crooks who managed to fraudulently buy the items, but they didn’t have a solid plan to acquire the stolen goods. Nice job guys.
• Fraud, 8000 block of Ball Mill Drive, 30350, 12/26: The caller said he was contacted by a collection agency on a $919 past due bill with Comcast. The account was opened in February and closed out in May of this year.

Assaults

• All were domestic-related.

Arrests

• 2800 block of Summer Lake Drive, 30350, 12/27: Around 8:30 p.m., officers were called to Preserve at Dunwoody Apartments regarding several calls that a man was knocking on doors and attempting to get into them. A resident flagged down the officers and pointed them to the direction where he last saw the man. One of the officers located the man who then ran with the cops on foot, pursuing. The officers sped up in order to head him off at the pass, and sure enough, the man came full circle and into the view of the second officer who took immediate notice that the man was carrying a broom and shovel. The officers finally corralled the suspect and took him into custody. He was, to no one’s surprise, impaired. When it was all said and done, he had forced his way into two apartments and tried for a third before being arrested. He was charged with two counts of burglary, possession of tools for commission of a crime and criminal attempt to commit burglary.
• 500 block of Tahoma Drive, 30350, 12/22: Officers responded to a burglary in progress just before 1 a.m. The caller was upstairs of his residence and pointed down towards the area that he believed the suspected burglar was. Officers found him near the garage of the residence. His legs were bleeding slightly from his botched attempt to break into the home. A rock and part of a downspout was found near the entry point. The suspect told cops that some underground entity had power over him, causing him to be at that address. He was checked out at the hospital. The suspect was obviously hallucinating, telling officers someone jumped into the back seat of the patrol car and injected him with Sodium Benzocarbinate and Sodium Pentothal. Capt. Steve Rose: The old Sodium Benzocarbinate and Sodium Pentothal alibi. Well played, sir.

A word from Capt. Rose: You may notice that the format of the Wrap Up is a bit different. The reports are taken from our report system (RMS) where I can access the face page showing an incident type and a short narrative. They changed the format so that the officer’s narrative is no longer on the face page. For me, this means that I have to open each individual report to read the narrative, meaning it takes more time that I do not necessarily have. So, I’ll pick and choose and go into detail on cases, incidents, and arrests that are

significant or at least interesting.

That said, the idea remains to allow the reader to learn how to avoid mistakes by seeing how others got themselves into misfortune by making simple mistakes. Take the guy who was robbed at the CVS. From
that, you should take away two good points: Don’t meet strangers at night to sell items and stay inside a public place.We are located on the northern border of Atlanta. As such, we get what Atlanta gets but in small doses. Overall, we address crime more efficiently than ever before. Don’t forget that in 2005, we had 40 officers assigned to the Sandy Springs precinct and only a handful to cover that area north of the river now known as Johns Creek and Milton. We have about 130 now.

We make more arrests than ever and the city judicial system isn’t shy about sending habitual offenders off

for a few months to the lovely confines of the Pickens County Jail. The fact that I write about the activity in Sandy Springs shouldn’t be interpreted as an indicator that we’re seeing an increase in crime. Most of our 2017 numbers actually show a decrease.

We talk about crime and my intent is to show how most of it could be prevented. I get e-mails all the time from folks who employ those simple things making them a high-risk to the crook. Simple things and I’m all about simplicity, thanks to my public schooling. We are at the point where I really and truly expect most of
you all to get it — meaning you understand how bad things happen and how you can be the exception.

How many of you sent money via prepaid debit card to get your grandson out of trouble or to Agent So-and-So of the IRS who had a warrant for you unless you go to CVS and get that card to pay the them? How many of you let someone access your computer just because he said he was from Microsoft and your computer was
messed up? “All I need is your credit card sir.”

And, for goodness sakes, I hope you learned from that poor dude who went full frontal on Skype, thinking he was going to score with that girl on the other end, only to find himself an extortion victim with his nudity pasted all over the Internet. How did he think that would end well?

All is well! We will be just fine. Remember that bad things come and go, crime trends like to recycle every few years but it’s all about common sense. Relax. The only thing we have to fear is the return of disco. Have a great New Year’s weekend, be safe and be happy!

Image via Sandy Springs police