View from the cop: Crime & punishment
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AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2006 > January
January 2006
Crape myrtle gets assist in arrest
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Officers got a call from a woman who said two men knocked on her door and were asking for someone whom she didn’t recognize.
The two men walked toward the community pool area. She thought this was suspicious, so she called the police. The officer couldn’t locate anyone and noted in the report that he checked an abandoned home and barn area nearby. The officer then received a “burglary in progress” call on Arborwoods Drive.
He found a resident who had detained a man who had attempted to break into his home. The resident said another suspicious person had driven around the corner. The officer drove four houses down and found a homeowner who had detained that second suspect.
The victim (homeowner) said that someone rang his doorbell but was gone when he went to answer it. He then heard a loud smash of a window and found one of the suspects in his kitchen. The suspect, upon seeing the homeowner, ran and dove through a garage window that was already smashed.
The suspect ran outside, lost his balance and fell head-first into a large crape Myrtle bush and then into a phone/cable box. The victim caught up with the suspect and detained him.
OK, back to the first victim’s house. He had seen a bad guy standing near the edge of his property. That fellow ran to his basement area. The homeowner then detained him.
The officer collected the two suspected burglars. The report indicated they were taken to Grady for some touch-up on the injury to the face of the guy who got beat up by the crape myrtle and also for what appeared to be drug use. They were later sent to Fulton County Jail.
The crape myrtle got credit for an assist.
When greed takes over
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The victim said that two women approached her at her work. They told her they found a bag with $67,000 in it and they would split it with her if she first put up $5,000 to ensure them she wouldn’t call the police.
She drove one of the suspects to a bank in Sandy Springs and withdrew the $5,000. She drove the suspect to a building on Roswell Road to meet the other suspect. They told her to give them the money and then go into the building to get her share of the $67,000. They gave her a blue bag to put the money in.
When she tried to enter the door, it was locked and when she looked back to find the two women. Surprise! They were gone.
I know it’s hard to believe that people are this gullible, but greed is a mighty powerful influence. The obvious question is why would the two want to split the money with the victim in the first place?
If it seems too good to be true, then most of the time it is.
Kicking her while she’s down
Someone stole a wallet from the victim’s daughter’s hospital room while he was sleeping. The dad reported that one of the gas cards was later used.
This is a good example of the fact that thieves are thieves and should never be considered anything more than simple street scum.
Odds (really odd) and ends
— A man threatened to kill another guy because he owed him $10 for a dog he sold him. — Someone used the Glen Ridge Drive victim’s personal information to open three accounts in his name. The first account was opened in 2003. The victim found the accounts when he checked his credit report. (Check it at least once a year, minimum.) — A guy, who apparently has a short attention span, was sitting in a Roswell Road nude dance bar when got mad at another guy and threatened to beat him up. He was escorted out. Police were called and later charged the patron from Alpharetta with disorderly conduct.
And finally …
It’s income tax time. Tax refund checks have not gone unnoticed by thieves who will be trolling the neighborhoods looking to steal from your mailboxes. Call any suspicious vehicle and or pedestrian activity when you see it.
He says, she says and an $80,000 car
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
See if you can follow this.
Bob said his ex-girlfriend called him and told him to bring some of her clothes to the Medlock Bridge Road bar where I assume she worked. Steve, his friend, wanted to come along so that he could confront her about some ugly rumors she was possibly spreading about him.
Bob and Tara, who I think was the ex-girlfriend, got into an argument at the bar and later, when they walked outside, they started pushing each other. Tara kicked a car belonging to Bob. Bob was upset based on the fact, he told the officer repeatedly, the car was worth $80,000. The officer didn’t understand what he was saying. (I’m just reading it and I don’t know what he was saying.)
After kicking the car, Tara left with Samuel. The report then says the suspect told the officer (now I don’t know where the suspect was when she talked to the officer) there was more verbal arguing inside and as they (at this point I don’t know who “they” were) were trying to leave when the two other guys followed them and started the argument.(?)
She said her boyfriend (is this Samuel?) got between them and then someone tried to kick someone and, well … it goes on and talks about people being mad over someone else leaving them and all this other junk that you really don’t care about anyway because you are in bed and sleeping at a time that most humans sleep.
Bottom line: Tara, 22, of Alpharetta was arrested for kicking the car that cost $80,000, according to the guy who said it over and over and over again.
Just for the heck of it, guess what time this happened?
Midnight to 1 a.m.
1 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.
1:30 to 2 a.m.
2 a.m. to 2:30 a.m.
2:30 to 3 a.m.
3 a.m. to 3:30 a.m.
— A woman came to the precinct to get her brother’s car out of impound. She was found to be wanted in Norcross on a traffic warrant. She was arrested and transferred to Norcross Police.
— The victim cashed his paycheck just after 2 p.m. He was approached on Roswell Road by a man and woman in a burgundy Ford Focus who asked him if he wanted a ride. He had never seen them before, but accepted the ride. (This, of course, is a no-no.) The man opened the back door for the victim and then pulled a gun. The man demanded money from the victim, who threw his wallet at the perp and exited the car. The suspects left the area east on Hilderbrand Drive. The good news is that the victim had not yet put the money in his wallet.
How to get arrested
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An officer at Roswell and Morgan Falls roads made a traffic stop on a car that passed a school bus, which was flashing its red lights and unloading passengers.
The driver produced an expired insurance card and said his license was lost. The officer asked the man to spell the name of the street on which he lives. The driver began to do everything in his power to get arrested.
He asked the officer how to spell the word “drive.” (For the record, this is not a good response.) The officer returned to the patrol car and then presented the driver with his traffic citations.
The officer explained the citations and while doing so the man told her, “I’m not #^#-ing deaf!”
The motorist added “#@$-you! %#$#-you! And $#$#%-you!
The conversation went downhill from there.
The 24-year-old Roswell resident was charged with disorderly conduct, in addition to the traffic charges, and taken to the Fulton County Jail.
Camouflage the hard way
Officers were called to a Gables Lane apartment to meet with a woman who said her baby’s father had come into town to see his child. He became intoxicated and got into an argument with the victim.
She told him to leave, but he refused. She put his suitcase at the door and, again, told him to leave. He refused. She then told him that she called the police. He left.
Officers could hear the man running around the back yard in the Hunter’s Branch area and found him after he had covered his face and body with leaves — in an attempt to look like a fallen tree. The officers struggled with the suspect before they could get him into custody. They got him patched up at Grady and then took him to jail.
The 35-year-old Atlantan was charged with obstruction, public drunk and simple assault.
Do you think they’ll recognize me?
A Jones Bridge Road pizza shop employee said she was about to leave work when a man came in holding a wrench and telling her he lost his wallet. The man began to mess around with the coin change machine. He pried open the machine, took the money trays and ran out of the restaurant.
He got into a green early ’90s model Honda Accord occupied by two men.
According to the witness/complainant, the same guy came in the night before, wearing the same clothing. The delivery driver knows the man who came in the night before and has known the suspect for a long time. (This guy ought to get together with the guy who dropped his cell phone with his picture of him holding a gun. They could write a book.)
Beware of the decoy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A shopper reported that two men did a decoy while she was at the checkout lane at a Roswell Road grocery store. One man knocked over a pamphlet display, causing a distraction. The second approached her and asked if she haddropped something.
The woman said the first man ran off and the second walked away. When she got home she noticed that her wallet was gone from her purse. The thieves charged $400 to her MasterCard.
And what exactly do you do with this marijuana?
A woman found a change purse on the floor inside a business office. Inside the purse was the license of the owner as well as some marijuana. The complainant called police, who spoke to purse owner. She said the pot was hers.
Sometimes police reports are silly in and of themselves. The next sentence of the report says, “(the officer) pulled the marijuana from the change purse and asked the offender what it was. She replied it was marijuana and it was hers. I then asked her what she does with it. She replied that she smokes it.”
Beer keg and punches fly
The Wright Road victim reported that just before 2:30 a.m. he got into a fight with several other people. He said he was kicked and hit several times before he grabbed a keg of beer and swung it in self-defense. He was taken to the hospital by his sister and treated for bruises and scrapes.
Witnesses reported that the victim was acting belligerently and violently toward several people. This conduct included grabbing people in places that you’re not supposed to grab without expressed written consent, and some keg- and chair-throwing. The other parties to the fight left prior to the arrival of the police.
The mysterious Mr. “T”
A guy walks into a Old Alabama Road bank and produces a check for the amount of $6,755. The teller thought it looked suspicious, so she called police. The officer came and spoke to the customer, who said a “dude” named “T” picked him up to do some tree-branch cleaning up. “T” paid him with the check. The guy asked “T” if the check was stolen and was told no.
The officer called the company name on the check and the representative of the company said this was one of six checks stolen earlier in the day. Our 43-year-old bank customer from Indianapolis was arrested.
Friday mop-up:
— Someone entered the Leeds Garden Lane victim’s home while he was out of town. The offender took a laptop and a bottle of Absolut Vodka. No forced entry.
— A juvenile was charged with shoplifting five packs of Yu-Gi-Oh playing cards from a drug store on Abbotts Bridge Road. He was turned over to his mother. If you want to know more about Yu-Gi-Oh cards, go to www.yugioh.com and read about it. Then call Dr. Phil.
Strumming our six-string, looking for Jimmy Buffett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last weekend we decided to go to a new themed restaurant located in fashionable Dunwoody. When a restaurant opens and the theme of it has anything to do with Caribbean atmosphere or otherwise any hint of any resemblance of Jimmy Buffett, I am required to take my wife to this place so that she may search for him.
As long as she gets the annual Margaritaville fix my wife can still function as a normal person.
Here’s the problem:
Jimmy Buffett did not come to Atlanta in 2005.
Remember when you had to tell your kids something that you knew you had to tell them but you knew it would temporarily shatter their image of something that was very important to them? An important thing like Santa doesn’t really come to all those houses in one night but instead opts to subcontract duties to “regional helpers.” For example, much of rural Georgia is handled by Santa’s helpers “Skeet and J.W.” who deliver presents and especially NASCAR collectibles to all the good ol’ boys and girls.
That was a piece of cake compared to breaking the news that Atlanta was not on Buffett’s schedule for 2005.
This particular restaurant is named: Cheeseburger in Paradise. (It’s not a plug — I had to pay.) To my wife, Sandy, this name was an omen. To make things worse, on the way to the omen, the radio played “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” My wife saw this as a sign — on top of the omen — that Jimmy Buffett would be there. (You have to understand the Parrotthead Nation).
Our friends are not obsessed with Jimmy Buffett, but they do enjoy the bizarre behavior of others as a form of entertainment.
Off we went.
Fashionable Dunwoody is an area that has grown tremendously over the past 30 years.In 1969, Dunwoody had only a 1 per 1,000 BMW-to-resident ratio compared to today’s 600-to-1000 rate.
I grew up on the outskirts of Dunwoody. Even then, Dunwoody had planted the seeds of fashion, something that I recognized and tried to keep up with during high school.
My father said the secret to fashion was simple: Always match your socks to your shirt. On the first day I wore a yellow shirt and socks.
I looked like the sun.
Upon our arrival at the restaurant, we agreed with the kids that they should have their own table somewhere else in the restaurant. They’re teenagers now. They don’t want to be seen near us. We secured a table at a comfortable distance. Being that the kids are all teenage boys, I offered them sound advice:
Don’t try to order booze.
Don’t hit on the girls and then get beat up by their boyfriends or dates. Too much paperwork.
Don’t bother the other customers by way of foodfights, burping or other emissions.
Don’t leave the building.
Don’t do anything that may be constituted as a misdemeanor or felony.
Finally, and very importantly, if you need to use the bathroom, remember two things: First, theme restaurants have fancy names for their bathrooms. Take time to interpret and understand the name prior to entry. If you can’t decide, hide until someone else goes in and then proceed, hoping they know what they are doing. Secondly and most importantly, always foot-flush.
I am a believer in the foot-flush. There are sophisticated and very nasty organisms everywhere. These sophisticated and nasty organisms are called cooties. There are certain strains of cooties that live on toilet flush handles as well as all other components of toilets.
Automatic flushing systems attached to toilets have contributed to reducing the need for touching the toilet components. Depending on the setup, the device will kick in as you move away from it and automatically flush. This helps maintain consistent sanitized conditions. Unfortunately, it also maintains a consistent flushing of cell phones and glasses.
After having covered the ground rules for dinner, we settled in for dinner. Most of you know that a Caribbean restaurant features large fruity drinks. This one was no exception. The large fruity drink came with a strawberry with a tiny pair of sunglasses on it. The martini glass was the size of a small bucket. I don’t think they expect you to drink more than one. We asked our server to occasionally check on our kids at the other side of the restaurant and report if any of them were being led away in handcuffs, otherwise, we didn’t want to be disturbed.
I hoped it would not happen, but it did.
Sandy began to look for Jimmy Buffett.
“There he is!”
“No, that’s a picture of him.”
“It looks just like him!”
“I know but it’s on a beer mug. Hey, let’s eat.”
We looked at the menus and tried to figure out what the cute food names meant. After a while I excused myself to go visit the restroom. When I got there I couldn’t figure out what the cute names on the restroom doors meant so I hid behind a plastic palm tree for a few minutes and then entered the door labeled Manos or Banos or whatever it was after apologizing to the party sitting next to the palm tree.
The rest of the night went pretty smooth. Not knowing what Jimmy Buffett song to equate to what food item, I chose to point to the pictures of food I was pretty sure I recognized. Sandy thought she recognized Jimmy Buffett several times but I tackled her before she could get to them. (My apologies to the customers, the valet, and the guy passing the sidewalk with the “Will Work for Gazpacho” sign.)
That night my wife went home obviously disappointed. She asked me to write Oprah and ask her to bring Jimmy Buffett to our house on her bus.
I sat down and instead, wrote Jimmy Buffett a letter.
“Dear Jimmy Buffett:
Please don’t forget to come to Atlanta this summer. I don’t think I can hold out much longer.
Thank you,
Steve Rose
P.S. If possible, could you be more specific with your bathroom signs?”
Spit, spat, busted
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While working a Roswell Road traffic accident, the officer noticed one of the drivers spitting on the other’s pant leg.
He told the spitter to stop. The spitter spit again. The 22-year-old Sandy Springs resident was charged with simple battery. He was released on a copy of charges.
Be careful what you wish for
A man at an Abernathy Road apartment complex came up to an officer and requested the officer check his driver’s license to see if it were suspended.
The officer checked and found that the man was wanted by Fulton County for a failure to appear on a previous theft by conversion charge. He was taken to FC jail.
Phantom beer drinker
See if this doesn’t bring back a few memories.
A patrol car received a call of kids hanging around a community center park near Cadbury Court. When the officer arrived, he saw three teens standing next to two parked vehicles.
The officer saw one of the teens throw what appeared to be a beer can into the wooded area next to the cars. The teens say they didn’t throw anything, but then said another person threw the beer into the woods and ran away. They did not know his name and, to the surprise of the officer, had only met him.
One of the teens drove his mother’s car to the park. The officer saw four unopened Miller Lite beer cans lying in the passenger seat of mom’s car. Two of the teens had a moderate odor of alcohol on their breath. The third, citing having been through this before and having learned his lesson, did not have any reading on the officer’s alco-sensor.
Two of the teens, both from Alpharetta, were charged with underage possession of alcohol and released to their parents pending a March 3 court date. The third teen was not charged.
The invisible 21-year-old was never found.
Smile, smart guy, you are on your own camera
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For those of you who are thinking about embarking on a career of armed robbery, read this one.
Just after 8:30 p.m. an employee of a Roswell Road restaurant emptied a grease pan behind the building. When he turned around, a man was holding a gun to his back. The robber had a mask over his nose and mouth. The employee said he got into a fight with the man and, although he took a hit from the butt of the gun to his nose, he got the man into a headlock.
Two employees, who I’m guessing the robber forgot to check for, got into the act and they smacked the guy and took his gun, shirt and mask. The man fled, but not before he dropped his cell phone.
On the phone’s photo wallpaper was a photo of the man holding the gun sideways like they do in the movies, (which by the way, is a good way to finish second in a gunfight.)
The victim positively identified the man and the gun from his phone picture. Although the gun was a semi-automatic pistol, it only had one bullet in the chamber and contained no magazine, a la Barney Fife. The detectives were working on the cell phone files to identify who the Barney is.
Beware of the ATM scam
The victim goes to the Powers Ferry Road ATM and puts the card in. The machine does not return the card. A man comes up to the victim and shows him a sticker above the slot that instructs the customer to punch in his PIN number three times and hit the cancel button.
The victim follows the instructions, but the machine keeps the card. The helper tells the victim the system must be down. The victim leaves and later calls customer service, which tells him the machine is out of order. The customer later learns that his card was used for $1,100 during about a 24-hour period.
The “helper” most likely used a strip to pull the card back out of the slot. It’s shaped like a flat hook. The card seats into the slot and up against the hook. After the victim leaves, the suspect pulls the strip back out. The suspect watched the victim enter his PIN three times and so off he goes.
Smooth move of the day
A man was treated at Northside Hospital after he accidentally shot himself. The victim and his buddy were on Abernathy Road heading to a club when the victim shot himself just below the knee. The wound, from the .38-caliber pistol, was described as minor. The victim was described as intoxicated.
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