Authorities have arrested a DeKalb County man accused of carjacking two Decatur residents at gunpoint in less than 24 hours.
Rieley Chester Fuller, 24, was taken into custody Friday evening, Decatur police announced. He faces four charges in connection with the carjackings, including two counts of hijacking a motor vehicle, one count of battery and one count of theft by receiving stolen property, jail records show.
The DeKalb County Police Department’s SWAT team assisted in Fuller’s arrest, police said Saturday, noting that both stolen vehicles have been recovered.
The first carjacking occurred shortly before 6 p.m. on July 22 in the 100 block of Mimosa Place, authorities said. A woman told officers she found herself looking down the barrel of a pistol after parking her 2021 Jeep Cherokee and getting out of the SUV.
Authorities said the woman was carjacked by three young men who arrived in a black Toyota Corolla.
“One of the suspects pointed a gray handgun at the victim and demanded her keys. The victim complied and the males left the area driving both the Jeep and (Toyota),” Decatur police said previously.
Surveillance footage released by the department appeared to show the suspects’ Toyota fleeing the neighborhood followed by the stolen SUV. The Jeep, which was later abandoned, was found the following morning in unincorporated DeKalb.
The second armed carjacking occurred about 1:15 p.m. on July 23 when a man was hit in the face outside his home along Kirk Crossing Drive, according to police. The victim told officers he was removing items from his house when he was approached by two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun.
“The suspects demanded the victim’s car keys,” police said last week. “The suspect with the handgun then struck the victim in the face and took his keys.”
The two men got into the man’s silver 2015 Audi sedan but initially struggled to start the car, authorities said. They’re also accused of taking his cellphone. A third suspect eventually walked into the man’s driveway and ordered him to the ground at gunpoint, instructing him “not to look at the suspects,” police said.
The first two men drove off in the Audi while the third suspect left in a black sedan that had been parked in the street, according to police, who noted similarities to the carjacking that occurred a day earlier.
Police have not said how they linked Fuller to the carjackings or if they’ve identified the remaining two suspects.
“These cases are still being actively investigated,” Decatur police spokesman Sgt. John Bender said, adding there was no additional information to release.
Fuller remained held at the DeKalb County Jail on Saturday afternoon without bond.
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