Teens Charged With Sandy Springs Carjacking

SANDY SPRINGS, GA -- The Sandy Springs Police Department is releasing new details about the carjacking of a resident late Monday evening on the northern side of the city. A 17-year-old male, Kaleb Jones of Lithonia, and two 16-year-old juveniles have been charged in connection with the incident.

Sandy Springs police were dispatched around 10:30 p.m. Dec. 11 to a call of a carjacking on Stratford Court. The victim said that after he arrived home, two armed suspects approached him and took his wallet, phone and the keys to his 2014 Lexus ES 350, the police department said.

The suspects fled the area in the Lexus followed by a red SUV. A be-on-the-lookout for both vehicles and the suspects was dispatched to area jurisdictions. Two Dunwoody officers later saw the vehicles on Perimeter Center West near Ashford Dunwoody Road and tried to conduct a traffic stop. However, both vehicles took off in different directions "in an effort to elude officers," Dunwoody police added.

The Suburban got caught up in traffic, and officers were able to catch up to the vehicle. The driver hopped out of the SUV and fled on foot while the passenger was taken into custody. The driver was able to evade capture until he was seen making his way towards the Dunwoody MARTA station where he was taken into custody without incident. Sandy Springs detectives recovered from the SUV several items linking the suspects to two burglaries reported earlier that day in the city.

Jones and a 16-year-old female juvenile also from Lithonia have each been charged with hijacking a motor vehicle, theft by receiving stolen property and two counts of burglary in the first degree. The third juvenile charged has been identified and remains at large, and detectives are working to identify a fourth suspect, Sandy Springs police spokesperson Sgt. Sam Worsham said.

The victim's Lexus was found abandoned in Dunwoody and the SUV came back as stolen out of DeKalb County.

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