A 23-year-old man arrested after a couple of car break-ins at a Midtown restaurant was out of jail on bond in another break-in case, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Police caught up with Na'qwan Arnold on New Year’s Eve minutes after he was allegedly seen driving away from the scene of two thefts in the parking lot of Henry’s Midtown Tavern on 10th Street.
Matthew Maney, a manager at Henry’s, told Channel 2 that he and his employee went to the parking lot to investigate around 6 p.m. after the employee found his car window shattered.
“We started looking around,” he said. “We see a guy jump out of another vehicle with a backpack ... I run to get the license plate. I see my employee backing up. I guess the guy in the passenger seat pulled a gun out on him.”
Officers spotted Arnold’s vehicle, a Dodge Challenger, near North Avenue and Northside Drive. They attempted to stop the Dodge, but it continued and crashed on Holly Street in the Grove Park neighborhood, Atlanta police spokeswoman Officer Lisa Bender said.
“Three occupants fled on foot and officers were able to capture the driver, later identified as Na’qwan Arnold,” she said in a statement. “The two additional suspects were not located.”
Belongings from at least two vehicles were recovered as well as two handguns. One of the guns was reported stolen out of another jurisdiction, Bender said.
Arnold is facing a slew of charges in the Dec. 31 incident, including aggravated assault, entering an auto and theft by receiving. He was also wanted on charges of entering an auto and theft by taking, among others.
According to Channel 2, Arnold was out of the DeKalb County jail on bond while awaiting trial for six Brookhaven car break-ins from 2016. He was indicted in August 2018 and granted bond the following month, court records show.
He pleaded guilty in 2017 to another car break-in case out of Cobb County. He was sentenced to one year in prison on one count of entering an auto and one count of theft by taking, but he was given credit for time served and immediately released in October of that year.
After the Dec. 31 crash, Arnold was treated for injuries on scene and was being detained at Grady Memorial Hospital.
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