Teen Armed Robbery Suspect Faces New Charges

SNELLVILLE, GA -- One of four Snellville teens arrested for beating their victims and robbing them at gunpoint over the weekend is now facing additional charges.

Gwinnett County Police say Jashon Samuels, 18, also was involved in a violent May 1 robbery.

At about midnight that night, officers were dispatched to a carjacking call at 2445 Cherie Glen Trail in unincorporated Snellville. They arrived to find a victim covered in blood.

The man told officers he met up with someone he knew as "Frankie" to go to a party. He went to 3794 Cherie Glen Trail to pick up Frankie, who was waiting outside when he arrived.

Frankie got into the victim's car, but then went back inside saying he'd forgotten something.

When he returned, he tried to remove the victim's keys from the car's ignition. At the same time, two other men ran to the car and opened the door on the driver's side.

Frankie and the two other men began beating the victim. One of them pulled him into the backseat as another pointed a handgun at him.

Fortunately, police say, the victim was able to push the attackers off of him and run away to the nearest residence, where he called for help.

The attackers drove off in the victim's car, which officers found about 30 minutes later at 3927 Tanglewood Rd.

After Samuels and three other teens were arrested this past weekend for two similar strong-arm robberies, a detective noted that one of them lived on Cherie Glen Trail.

The detective thought Samuels met the description the victim gave of "Frankie" and presented a photo lineup of potential suspects to the victim, who identified Samuels as Frankie.

None of the other May 6 suspects were positively identified.

The detective then obtained three additional warrants for Samuels, who is being held at Gwinnett County Jail. In addition to his two armed robbery charges from the weekend, he now faces an additional armed robbery charge and charges of hijacking and battery.

Samuels, Timothy James McClendon, 17, Irving Lewis Saunders, 17, and Thoushal Nakill Lucas, 19, face a variety of charges in two Friday robberies, during which police say they punched and kicked their victims in addition to pulling a gun on them.

The two robberies happened at Cash America Pawn and Cubesmart Self Storage, both on Stone Mountain Highway.