Lawrenceville couple attacked while babysitting

A Lawrenceville couple was babysitting two young children last week when a pair of thieves allegedly ambushed them and robbed them at gunpoint.

Arrest warrants have been issued for one of the suspects — 27-year-old Jeffery Ameer Bates of Norcross — but investigators are still trying to identify his accomplice Friday, said Lawrenceville police Detective Tim Ashley.

The robbers struck around 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, when 21-year-old Whitney Reid and her husband, Joshua Fay, were babysitting two children at Hampton Square Apartments in Lawrenceville. One of the suspects confronted Reid when she went to retrieve something from her car and forced her back inside the apartment at gunpoint, Ashley said.

The suspects then ordered the couple to cover their heads with pillowcases while they bound the couples’ hands behind their backs with duct tape. Both of the victims’ cell phones were stolen, along with $240 cash. The men pistol-whipped Fay as they demanded money, Reid said.

“They were not happy with us,” she said. “I think they figured they were getting a lot more money.”

The children – an 8-year-old boy and 3-year-old girl – had just finished taking baths upstairs when they encountered the robbers and began screaming, Reid said.

Reid said the men pointed a gun at the 8-year-old’s forehead and hit him in the stomach. One of the suspects also grabbed three-year-old’s neck and covered her mouth to quiet her yelling, Reid said.

At some point, the boy broke loose and ran to a next-door neighbor’s house to call police, Ashley said.

“The only reason we got away is because he ran and they ran after him,” Reid said. “That gave us a chance to get out.”

The boy was also instrumental in identifying one of the suspects, Ashley said, because he recognized Bates as an acquaintance of his mother. Bates was still at large Friday.

Detectives have not been able to identify the second suspect, because he wore a T-shirt tied over his face, Ashley said.