AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2008 > July > 18 > Entry
Crime & Punishment
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A sampling of reports filed with Sandy Springs police:
Robbery
A man, working for a landscape company, reported that he was working in a yard in the 5300 block of Northside Drive when a man came up behind him, pulled a gun, reached into his pockets and retrieved his keys to the truck. The truck was later found abandoned in Atlanta. The GPS in the victim’s cellphone allowed the officers to track the truck. No arrests at this time.
Burglary
A Metro PCS tower on Northside Drive was entered and several computer components were taken. The burglars cut the lock to the outside gate to get in.
A representative reported that someone pried a door open in an office in the 4800 block of Roswell Road and took two Mac computers. Another office in the same building was also entered.
Apartment burglary in the 1000 block of Brentwood Way-The victim’s rear glass door was shattered by a flower pot and several items were taken. The victim thinks the suspect could be a local juvenile.
A male burglarized the Cozy Corner Café located inside the office building at 6190 Powers Ferry Road. The burglar used a key and then took a small amount of cash. Video shows a 40-45 year old black male in jeans and a blue t-shirt. The man has a bald spot on his head that he later covered with a white hat with a brim all around it.
Police received a call from an Atlanta Gas employee doing work on Pine Lake Drive. The man said it appeared the home was forcibly entered. Officer found that it had and several rooms had been ransacked.
A resident of the Park Towers on Hammond Drive said someone entered the apartment, without forced entry, and took two televisions. She suspects a previous tenant who offered to sell the televisions to her and apparently wanted the money or the rest of the money. He called her while she was gone. She told him she was not there and she thinks he used his old key to get in.
Thefts
Leasing office personnel at Colonial Grand Apartments reported someone entered the office area and took several pictures from the wall.
A woman reported that on several occasions, someone has entered her apartment in the 500 block of Abernathy Road even after she changed the deadbolt locks. She suspects a man who she said has made advances towards her in the past.
A man responded to an ad to sell an IPhone on Craigslist and made arrangements to buy it. The victim drove from Stockbridge to Sandy Springs, and met the man on the corner of Pitts and Colquitt Roads. The man got into the victim’s car and they drove to an apartment. The suspect asked if the victim had the money. He said yes and showed the money to the seller who then grabbed it and ran from the location. The victim said the cash amounted to $600.
A man reported someone cut the lock from his locker at the LA Fitness while he was working out. His wallet and I.D. and credit cards along with $100 cash are missing. Another theft was reported by a man who said his lock and property were taken.
The victim said someone forced entry into his truck while he was parked in the parking lot of Lowe’s. His wallet, laptop and several other items including a gun were taken. Another car, at the location, was broken into and the victim later reported an iPod missing.
A man reported that he let a woman in to his place on Northwood Drive so that she could take a shower. He said she was nice. The nice lady showered and then left along with the victim’s wallet, $140 cash and I.D. The woman is a known prostitute in the area.
A man reported that while he was shopping at a Kroger Store, a man walked up to him and offered to help him push the shopping cart all the while being “very talkative.” The victim later found the subject pick-pocketed him. Always beware of someone who just comes up to you, especially when you are shopping in a grocery or other retail store, and for no reason, starts grabbing your attention. That is always the M.O. for a distraction leading to a theft. Usually the victim is female and older. Zip the purse up so that no one can see inside it. If you’re smart, strap it to the cart. Although actual pick-pockets like this case are infrequent, it is still a good idea to place your wallet or credit cards and cash in a front pocket.
A building contractor building a new home, located in the 4600 block of Jett Road, reported $4,000 in copper was stolen from the home.
Forgery-Fraud-I.D. Theft
A woman reported that someone attempted to open two credit card accounts in her name and access personal information. The attempt was done online with the First National Bank of Omaha. (Check your credit history at least twice a year folks.)
Assault
A girlfriend-boyfriend combo, visiting a relative at an outpatient center, got into a domestic argument over the care of a newborn child the woman had in her arms. The argument became physical and security staff stepped in, separated the two and notified police. The responding officers arrested the male for biting his girlfriend and then arrested the girlfriend for an outstanding warrant in DeKalb County. (The girlfriend originally gave the officers a false name.) The newborn was later placed in the care of a relative.
Comments
By Truth March
July 18, 2008 6:29 PM | Link to this
What these people all have in common is a complete lack of respect for the law.
By D
July 18, 2008 10:38 PM | Link to this
So Steve what’s going on at your police department? Internal investigations? Chief resigns, others fired? Sounds like some Einstein awards may be in order close to home. Bet it would make an intersting column too.
By Dixie
July 19, 2008 1:43 AM | Link to this
It wasn’t me. I was in Mexico.
By Fred
July 19, 2008 4:13 AM | Link to this
Yeah D, such HUGE offenses. Some people were riding ATV’s without a helmet. Cops who daily carry guns shot other guns “without proper training”. Just damn. What is proper training? If you shoot a Colt .45 instead of a Blackhawk you need to have a 7 hour block of instruction first? That is like saying if you own and drive a Toyota, you need “proper instruction” before you can drive a Honda.
“investigative reporting” like this is why me and many like me voted for ANYONE other than Dale Cardwell. The term muckraking comes to mind. But hell, what do I know, I’m a “racist”……………..
By Too Late, Baby
July 19, 2008 7:37 AM | Link to this
Steve Rose, sir, you know that one woman on Northside Drive, who only wanted to take a shower in the guy’s home? Do you think she has an older sister for me?
By Dixie
July 19, 2008 11:07 AM | Link to this
You go Fred … And D …Everyone knows that when ANY new system is put into operation that there will be flaws. Sandy Springs is making all of these transitions with far fewer problems than most. But the sensationalists are looking to see themselves in print. As if that makes them credible. Kinda like some bloggers, Right?
By trust me
July 19, 2008 11:45 AM | Link to this
I have a house for sale. Meet me at the corner of Peachtree and Piedmont. We’ll get in your car and drive to the house. Be sure to have $450,000 in cash. You give me the money, and I’ll give you the keys to the house. No,,, really,, trust me !!!
By Ron
July 19, 2008 3:19 PM | Link to this
**A recent increase in drug-related kidnappings in Gwinnett County has put a spotlight on drug violence in Georgia, federal agents say.
About nine drug-related kidnappings have occurred in Gwinnett this year. The latest involved a man bound and chained in a basement in Lilburn who was rescued by federal agents last week.
Mexican drug cartels are moving large amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the country for distribution up the East Coast, said Rodney Benson, the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta. Drug-related kidnappings have increased in the past 90 days, he said. Gwinnett is a center of Mexican drug cartel activity in the area because of easy transportation on I-85 and a large Hispanic population where traffickers can try to blend in, said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia David Nahmias.**
GEE I WONDER WHY WE DON’T LIKE THE PATHETIC ILLEGAL MEXICANS? GET OUT!!!
By Fred
July 20, 2008 5:18 AM | Link to this
Ron,
You are a racist. If you state the obvious about anyone who is not white, you are a racist. If you refer to someone else who does not reflect the same amount of light from their skin as you do by anything other than a hyphenated label, you are a racist. If you quote or use cultural song lyrics to describe them as they describe themselves, you are a racist. If, God forbid, one of them rapes, kidnaps, or murders, one of your family and you kill the rat b******* you are also a racist and will be charged with a “hate crime” on top of everything else. Get with the program you racist.
By Harris
July 20, 2008 6:37 AM | Link to this
Geez Fred you have racist on the mind! First your calling LT Rose a racist, then youself a racist and now Ron a racist. What gives? Sounds like you were called a racist and its hit so close to home you can’t get it out of your mind.
By Reality
July 20, 2008 11:10 AM | Link to this
Gwennetians, drug kidnappings in Gwinnett, drug violence and Gwinnett is the drug capital of the S.E. Electric trains traversing your county operated by MARTA shoud be the least of your worries. Just my two cents.
By Dave
July 20, 2008 3:05 PM | Link to this
Sandy Springs Police Department goings on are far more entertaining than the drug cartels in Gwinnett, the lady that is going to sell me a house for half price if I bring the cash to the Waffle House parking lot on foot at 2 A.M., and the hookers taking showers in my guest bedroom. I just cannot wait to find out about the squad car porno these Sandy Springs guys and gals have on their PC’s in the department offices, the non-liquid Coke they are selling at the retirement homes, and the prostitution ring they are running out of the break room on Bingo nights. Wooooooo ….
By The Forgotten Messiah
July 21, 2008 9:52 AM | Link to this
All these reports of modern crimes reminds me of a para-parable, the quasi-pre-Christian stories that dont quite measure up the Christ’s Parables, but instead were the precurser upon which the real parables were modeled.
Para-parable #37
The thief (dated about 47BC)
A thief was caught stealing coins from a wishing well. The town elders didn’t know what to do with the thief. Nobody actually owned the coins or the well, it had simply always been there. No one had ever considered stealing them; this crime had never come up before. So they were crucifying the guy anyway, when a stranger approached and suggested they throw the thief in the well. “If he drowns, then we’ll know he’s innocent, if he climbs out of the well, we’ll know he’s a witch and we can burn him at the stake.”
Well, the townspeople LOVED the idea, and the man was taken down from his cross, and soon treading water at the bottom of a very deep well. There was enough room for most of the elders to peer over the sides of the well and watch the thief dog-paddling, and people kept peppering them with questions, “What’s he doing now?” Dog paddling. “What happening?” He’s dog paddling. “Did he drown yet?” He’s still paddling.
After several hours the man finally tired and drowned. The townspeople went home and found their homes had been ransacked by the stranger who suggested the well-crucible. A great wail went up over the town as people realized they had been tricked and robbed.
And so I say to you this day, “if you’re going to crucify some poor sot, crucify him, dont throw him in the well.”
By Lt. Steve
July 21, 2008 10:19 PM | Link to this
Hey Too Late Baby: Based on what I saw, I don’t think any of us would want to meet her. Her mug shot had a NC-17 rating—and not in a good way.
By Too Late, Baby
July 22, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this
But I’m so lonely……I’d settle for a spry nursing home invalid with a yeast infection………..ew.
I think America is lonely. I think the internet has turned us all into loners. Some of us have friends we’ve picked up through the years, and we’re grateful for them, but it’s impossible to make new friends as you get older, as you change, so that old acquaintences dont really know the real you, the evolved you, the you that you could become if you just met the right girl, or the correct new group of homies who shared your sense of unresolved apathy and malaise, and who can keep their mouth shut and still communicate. People want to hang together, but people dont want to hear chatter, we just dont. You can say anything with your eyes, you know, and body posture.
Therefore, I insist that all american baby boomers take mime lessons so that we can quietly know what we’re all feeling and thinking. Then, we’ll all have friends.
Someone teach my wife to mime, please. (She wont stfu).
Have a nice day.