Another 'blue jean' bandit suspect identified


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/14/08

The Dawson County Sheriff's Office on Saturday identified a 17-year-old Atlanta teen as the sixth suspect apprehended after a smash-and-grab burglary attempt at a north Georgia outlet mall.

Demarcus Marcus Smith's name initially was withheld because he claimed to be a juvenile. Lt. Tony Wooten of the Dawson sheriff's office said further investigation found that to be false.

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Smith and three others are being held without bond, and a fifth man is jailed on a $20,000 bond. A 26-year-old woman also charged in the robbery was released on bond Thursday.

The accused "blue jean" bandits – so named after smash-and-grab burglaries in metro Atlanta in which designer jeans were taken – were captured Tuesday after they drove a silver van up to a Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th store at the North Georgia Premium Outlets and smashed the glass, police said.

They sped away when they spotted a security guard watching. Sheriff's deputies chased them into neighboring Forsyth County and used a "stop stick," a spiked strip, to puncture the tires and their van to stop it.

Smith was believed to be the driver of the vehicle, a stolen 2000 Dodge Caravan, police said. The charges against him include burglary, conspiracy to commit theft, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and giving police a false name.

The Off 5th store lost $20,000 in designer jeans in a similar smash-and-grab heist at the store three weeks earlier, Wooten said.

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