Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for the arrest of the eighth and final suspect in a recent Sandy Springs home invasion that terrorized a mother and her daughter.
Jermaine Caldwell, 23, is wanted on multiple charges in the Oct. 1 incident at a home on Northside Drive. Sandy Springs police announced the reward increase Tuesday and said “additional funds are forthcoming” for information that leads to Caldwell’s arrest.
Seven other suspects, six men and one woman between the ages of 18 and 24, have already been arrested. Investigators have not said how they connected the eight to the case, one of two high-profile home invasions in Sandy Springs that occurred just two days apart.
In social media posts, the victim in the Oct. 1 incident said she and her 16-year-old daughter were inside their gated home when a large group of people broke in around 9:45 p.m. According to online property records, the home on Northside Drive is 11,000 square feet and has seven bedrooms and six bathrooms.
The woman said she counted five intruders.
“They held guns to our heads and went room to room stealing valuables, then left in two of our cars,” she wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post. Phones and iPads were also stolen, but the cars were later found, the woman said.
The intruders allegedly told the woman they would kill her if she called for help, according to police. She and her daughter cooperated with their demands and were not injured.
Seven arrests were announced Friday. The suspects were identified as Atlanta residents 18-year-old Robert Gunter, 21-year-old Darryl Johnson, 22-year-old Azhanee Scott and 24-year-old Jude Morgan; Union City residents 22-year-old Montavious Goodwin and 24-year-old Contaiovus Howard; and Conyers resident Norman Thompson, 21.
Each face multiple charges, including home invasion, aggravated assault and false imprisonment. Five other suspects arrested in Dooly County earlier this month are facing charges in the second Sandy Springs home invasion, which occurred Oct. 3 on Aberdeen Drive.
None of the five are charged in the Northside Drive case. Investigators no longer believe the two cases are connected, a police spokesman said Wednesday.
Caldwell is wanted on charges of conspiracy to commit home invasion, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and theft by taking. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact Sandy Springs Detective M. Burson at 770-551-2570 or mburson@sandyspringsga.gov.
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