View from the cop: Crime & punishment
View from the Cop is moving to a new site on Wordpress. Blogger Steve Rose of the Sandy Springs Police Department gives his take on crime, offers safety tips and give his weekly picks from the police blotter. Follow Steve Rose to the new blog site.
AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2007 > April > 02
Monday, April 2, 2007
What does it all mean?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DOC Disorderly Conduct
UI Under the Influence
PD Public Drunk
VGCSA Violation of the Georgia Controlled Substance Act (drugs)
Battery Assault (physically strike)
DV Domestic Violence
FTA Failure to Appear (warrant) previous court case
Obstruction Most of the time obstruction has to do with someone interfering with the officer’s actions on a call or traffic-stop. Most often it’s applied to a guy who has just enough to drink and gets a case of the SLS, or Street Lawyer Syndrome and starts telling the officer that he or she can’t do this and can’t do that. FYI: That is most certainly a guaranteed trip to the lockup.
Robbery
A woman flagged down an officer on Northwood Drive and told him that she had just been robbed at gunpoint. As she was talking to the officer, she saw the suspect and car and pointed it out. The officer followed the car until he found it abandoned. The officers, with the assistance of a K-9, tried but could not follow the trail of the suspect. The last known area was in the Sierra Creek Apartments. The car was impounded and the investigation continues. The car is a 196 Lincoln Continental 4-door and black in color.
Theft Someone took about $15,000 in cash from a business in the 8500 block of Roswell Road. There is a current dispute between the former and new owner of the business. I’m sure this didn’t help things.
A woman reported that someone took her wallet from her purse while it was left unattended at a coffee shop in the 6100 block of Roswell Road. A check was taken and later cashed for $800.
The victim was putting her groceries in her car in the 2900 block of Dunwoody Club Drive when a woman ran up and grabbed her purse. (The purse was still in the shopping cart while she was putting the groceries away) The woman ran a short distance before getting into a blue car driven by a man. The victim did get the tag number of the car, a 2001 Honda Accord, and the suspects are on store video.
Fraud
A woman reported that her soon-to-be-ex-husband tried to establish a $3,000 amount of credit in her name.
A woman, shopping in a store in the 200 block of Johnson Ferry Road, was approached by a man who told her that he was shopping for his grandmother and said his grandmother was this woman’s size. He asked her if she would help him look through the clothing racks which she did. When she turned back around, the man was gone and so was her wallet. The victim said she cancelled her cards very quickly but already the thief used the card at the next-door department store for $600, a food store for $200, clothing store for $200, and an office-supply store for $900.
Arrests A 42-year old man was arrested after an officer, patrolling an extended stay hotel in the 900 block of Crestline Parkway where he has located stolen cars before, ran the tag on a 1999 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. The tag and truck came back as stolen from Roswell. The officer contacted Roswell PD and they confirmed the status as stolen. The officer asked if there was any suspect information. They did and gave the name of the suspect. The officer went to the hotel desk and asked if that person, named by Roswell PD as a suspect, was registered. He was. The officer asked if he registered a car or truck. Turned out the man had put the stolen pickup truck on the hotel registration sheet. (Thank you very much.) The officer went to the man’s room and the man told the officer who he was and so he was arrested. The man also had a plastic bag with suspected crack cocaine. The man was also wanted for three warrants for forgery, parole violation, and probation violation. He was arrested and transferred to Roswell Police. The man had a couple of flashlights in the room so they are looking at any evidence that might connect him to some area thefts from autos.
The clerk at the Citgo, on Dunwoody Place just off Roswell Road, was charged after he sold beer to a female who was under the age of 21. Earlier, the officer saw two females asking for money in the parking lot of the Citgo. The officer also found one of the girls holding a bottle of Colt 45 Malt Liquor. He asked her for her I.D. and learned that she didn’t have any nor was she at least 21 years old. She told the officer that the clerk knows her and he sold her the beer. He was charged and will appear in court on May 16th. The girl was turned over to her mother and the other was sent away after being told not to solicit money anymore.
Officers arrested a 23-year old man for DOC-UI after they got a call about a man acting crazy and harassing residentsin the 6800 block of Roswell road. They found the man screaming. The officers got the man cuffed but while they were trying to get him to the car, he fell and appeared to be in a state of seizure. He came out of it and started screaming. The officers noted the man was lying on the ground biting rocks. The man continued to thrash around, kicking the officers and EMS personnel. The man later told officers he was drinking and doing cocaine.
A 31-year old man was arrested in the 8100 block of Colquitt road for Disorderly Conduct after he approached another man and said “Why are you telling everyone I’m a dope-dealer?” and then punched the man in the jaw. The victim, a recovering addict, said he used to buy drugs from the defendant which, I guess, answers the defendant’s question.
28 A 49-year old man was charged with Disorderly Conduct (public drunk) after police and EMS were called to a person lying in the parking lot, unconscious in the 5800 block of Roswell Road. The man was found to be intoxicated. His condition was so that he couldn’t walk. He was taken in because he is homeless and there was family to contact. Sometimes the officers will make the PD case because the subject is so drunk that they present a danger to themselves and/or others.
A 52-year old man was arrested for Public Indecency in the 8800 block of Roswell Road after an officer observed him having TSM (That Special Moment), otherwise known as Happy-Time, or Hanging out with Little Elvis, with himself while looking at a magazine, in his car, in a shopping center, around 1:15 p.m. The officer said he had to announce his presence due to the man’s focus on his task. Timing and location were his two mistakes. At least he had enough sense to stop the car first.
