A suspect in five Sandy Springs restaurant burglaries was taken into custody Friday morning after SWAT officers surrounded him on the roof of a LongHorn Steakhouse in Johns Creek.
The standoff ended peacefully about 6 a.m., four hours after a tripped burglary alarm took the first officers to the Medlock Bridge Road restaurant. Johns Creek police believe the suspect was attempting a sixth burglary when he was confronted by the officers and hid on the roof, Sgt. Tyler Seymour said.
He was later identified as 28-year-old Jah’msid Nieem Ci’heed Johnson of Conyers.
“My understanding is the individual was using power tools inside we believe, obviously, to try to access some type of safe or item inside the management office,” Seymor told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from the scene Friday morning.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Johns Creek police arrived at the steakhouse about 2 a.m. after being contacted by a security company. They determined someone had forced their way inside after spotting a broken door, Seymour said.
“Upon approaching the broken door, they did realize the suspect was trying to exit out of the other side of the business, at which point the subject retreated back inside,” he said.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Seymour said the man used a ladder to climb onto the roof of a storage area behind the restaurant, where he was eventually taken into custody by the North Metro SWAT Team.
Johnson was taken to a hospital to be checked for any injury due to frigid weather conditions, Seymour said. Temperatures dipped into the 30s early Friday.
Earlier this week, police in Sandy Springs asked for the public’s help to identify a “serial burglar” responsible for several restaurant break-ins reported early Saturday morning. In each case, the burglar smashed a front door and took money once inside, according to police.
Slope’s BBQ on Johnson Ferry Road, Breadwinners Cafe and Little Thai Cuisine on Sandy Springs Circle, and Lotus Restaurant and Wing Stop on Roswell Road were all burglarized.
A similar method was used to break into the LongHorn, Seymour confirmed.
After interviewing the man Friday morning, Sandy Springs detectives announced that Johnson would be charged in the five earlier burglaries. His specific charges were not released.
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