Teen Entering Auto Suspect Arrested In Sandy Springs: 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. 14-17:

Arrests

• 800 block of Cimarron Parkway, 30350, 8/14: Just after 9 p.m., patrol officers were dispatched to a suspicious person call at the apartment complex. The caller said it appeared like a drug transaction. He located two men standing around a car in the parking lot area. The officers spoke to the men, neither of whom had identification on them. One of the men said the car belonged to his brother. When asked if the officer could look into the car, the man declined. A K-9 was requested to come to the scene. During that time, one of the men took off running. The other remained. Cops found about 254 grams of marijuana and other items consistent with distribution. The car was impounded and warrants obtained for possessing the marijuana with the intent to sell it and obstruction.
• 6400 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, 30328, 8/17: Home Depot security detained two men who left the store without paying for a cart full of power tools valued at $1,190. When stopped and asked to return to the store, the two abandoned the tools and attempted to leave. The police car arrived about that time and the two were later arrested and jailed.
• 4600 Roswell Road, 30342, 8/17: Officers stopped a suspicious juvenile just after 2 a.m. He was well away from his home in Atlanta and on him, he had two checkbooks not belonging to him and a screwdriver, often used to pry windows and doors of vehicles. The officers were able to trace the checkbooks to their owners who had reported them stolen. CVS had video of one of the trucks that was broken into, which showed the juvenile offender walking away from the truck just after the incident and before the officer stopped him (although the officer did not know of the theft at the time). The juvenile has a record in Atlanta for breaking into cars. The officers at the time did not have enough for a warrant so they took him home. Later, after putting everything together, they were able to obtain warrants for the juvenile so they went to the home and arrested him. They did so but Fulton juvenile intake staff refused him. Without other options, they took him back home.

Burglary

• 400 block of Berkley Run, 30342, 8/16: A 24-year-old woman reported someone entered her apartment during the night while she slept by forcing a dead bolt and door open. Her wallet, $400 in cash and credit cards were stolen. One of the cards was later used for $43 on xrhealth.com.
• 8339 Roswell Road, 30350, 8/17: A patrol officer, checking the back of a business complex, saw a damaged door handle and pry marks to the rear door of a business called Wings and Seafood. Inside, there were footprints on the floor and a cash register had been thrown to the floor. The cash drawer was missing.

Theft

• 7741 Roswell Road, 30350, 8/14: An employee of the North Fulton Service Center said she left her purse, containing her wallet in a filing drawer partially open. She left her office for a short while. At the end of the day, she noticed her wallet was gone.
• 5600 block of Glenridge Drive, 30342, 8/14: An employee said she attended a meeting in a room near the front of the office area. During that time, the front desk receptionist was away at lunch. However, they could see the front reception area from the office. She and others noticed a woman described as a black female with long braids wearing a flowing white shirt, white purse and flip-flops in the reception area. Later, the victim received fraud alerts from AMEX while in her office. She checked her purse and found that her wallet was gone. A card was used at the Target at Atlantic Station for several thousand dollars. Target’s video showed the same woman entering and exiting the store.
• 400 block of Breakwater Ridge, 30328, 8/14: A 53-year-old man reported that sometime between 9:30 and 11 p.m., his 2007 Range Rover was stolen. He said a man named Juan had the car for three days prior doing body work for him and returned the car home at 9:30 p.m. The owner then left until 11 p.m. when he discovered the car was missing.
• 200 block of Hilderbrand Drive, 30328, 8/16: A woman reported that a check had been stolen from her purse at her workplace and later deposited at another bank in Sandy Springs. She and a coworker were working together on the date of the theft. The check was made out to a woman for $647 and the coworker made the deposit of the stolen check. The workplace’s internal video shows the coworker concealing something from the victim’s purse. The case was moved over to CID for investigation and warrants.
• 2090 Dunwoody Club Drive, 30350, 8/16: A 27-year-old employee of Yogli Mogli said someone accessed the employee area and stole her wallet containing several credit cards, $200 cash and some gift cards. Her cards were later used at several locations, including Walmart, CVS and Home Depot. The transactions occurred before she was alerted by the bank. Internal video shows a man going into the store and into the employee-only area. He was described as a black male, 20 to 40 years old, with scruffy facial hair and who wore a green shirt and jeans.
• 5600 block of Roswell Road, 30342, 8/17: A 25-year-old woman reported that while at her place of employment, a man came in past the bar area -- restricted to those who are not employees -- and wanted to use the phone. She stopped him and he yelled at her, then turned and left. She noticed that her phone was gone too. He was described as a black male, about 5’8” and bald.
• 2000 block of Spalding Drive, 30350, 8/17: A tree-service employee reported that someone stole 3 chainsaws, 1 pole saw, 2 blowers, 2 pairs of climbing saddles, 2 pairs of climbing spikes and 1 climbing rope. He was working at the property and left the items unattended for approximately 2 and a half hours while he assisted other employees. There was no lookout given.
• 400 block of Greyfield Lane, 30350, 8/17: A woman reported that her roommate “stole my stuff and tossed my room.” She said he took her computer, Air Jordan’s, Beats headphones and her neck massager. The inside of the apartment had been ransacked.

Thefts From Vehicles

• 4717 Roswell Road, 30342, 8/14: 2 suspects in a red car
• 700 block of Willow Creek Drive, 30328, 8/15: Brown pouch with $30 cash and credit cards, which were later used.
• 200 block of Stewart Drive, 30342, 8/15: Concrete saw from work van
• 5000 block of De Claire Court, 30328, 8/16: Unlocked, nothing missing. Also, 2010 Ford Edge was stolen.
• 1001 Johnson Ferry Road, 30342, 8/16: Tag from Chevy Silverado truck
• 5000 block of Roswell Road, 30342, 8/16: Unlocked, iPad stolen
• 600 block of Willow Creek, 30328, 8/16: Wallet and credit cards

Other Things

• A 27-year-old man said he received text messages with pornographic photos and a request for sex from a phone number that was unknown to him.
• 6000 block of Roswell Road, 30328, 8/17: A manager with McDonald’s confronted an employee who was sitting down and not on break time. He questioned him. The man replied that he did not like being questioned, then poured a refreshing soda at the fountain and splashed the manager with the drink. The man then left the location. Alcohol was involved. The suspect is well known by the street officers. He has held and been fired from a variety of jobs in the city.
• 6105 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, 30328, 8/15: A witness said around 7:30 p.m., she saw a man taking photos of the tags of the cars that were parked in the parking lot. She said the man circled the parking lot several times taking photos. She noticed a second man near the stoop at Uncle Julio’s Restaurant, who appeared to be a lookout. From that description, the officer recognized the man as the same whom he has encountered previously at the Extended Stay Hotel on Hammond Drive. The witness took photos of the men and forwarded them to the officer. The suspects were gone at the time of the officer’s arrival.
• 5000 block of Mountain Creek Road, 30328, 8/16: A 58-year-old man said he and his roommate have not been getting along and he has asked her to leave over non-paid rent. He said he was making dinner and a smoothie, which he placed on the counter in the kitchen. He left the room for several minutes and when he returned, he took a sip of the smoothie. The man told officers the smoothie tasted like bleach. He said the roommate was in the kitchen at the time he left and he suspects that she bleached his smoothie. She denied knowing anything about it.
• A 22-year-old man reported that he met another man at Lifetime Fitness. He told the
  other guy that he had some financial issues and man, now deemed a suspect, told him he could help. The victim gave him his debit card and PIN number and a short time later, he discovered the following: A. All of his debt had remarkably vanished; B. O.J. called wanting his memorabilia back; or C. He found a negative balance of $13,000 after three fraudulent $4,000 checks were deposited, followed by significant withdrawals before the bank discovered the crime? Capt. Steve Rose says: There is a little voice in your head. You may not hear it at first, but when you listen closely, you can hear it telling you that this may not be a good thing. It is subtle and does not scream at you, but it is there. When you have stress -- financial stress in this case -- and someone comes along and paints a magical picture of the solution, don’t get caught up on how good that will feel because the hook is on the way. You do not give PIN numbers to strangers. Professionals should address your problems, not the guy blow-drying his unmentionables in the locker room!

Image via Sandy Springs Police Department