Babysitters’ alleged robber arrested

A Norcross man has been arrested in connection with a nightmarish robbery of a couple that was babysitting two young children.

Gwinnett County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Jeffrey Ameer Bates, 27, on Monday afternoon at his home. Jail records spell Bates’ first name as Jeffrey, however arrest warrants spell it Jeffery.

Police said a Lawrenceville husband and wife were babysitting children, ages 8 and 3, when Bates and another unidentified man ambushed them.

They confronted the wife when she went to retrieve something from her car and forced her back inside the apartment at gunpoint.

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, a police report said. The men also pistol-whipped the husband and pointed the gun at the 8-year-old boy’s forehead.

At some point, the boy broke loose and ran to a neighbor’s house to call police, said Lawrenceville Police Detective Tim Ashley.

Police said the boy was also instrumental in identifying Bates, because he recognized Bates as an acquaintance of his mother.