Robbers descend from ceiling of SW Atlanta business in $150K heist, police say

In movie-like fashion, two men dropped through the ceiling of an Atlanta business recently and stole $150,000, officials announced Monday.

Teyoka Glenn, manager of Atlanta Check Cashiers, was making her way into work two weeks ago at about 8 a.m. when two men burst through the ceiling above her, crashing onto the floor, police confirmed. Investigators said they later discovered a hole had been cut using power tools in the roof.

Glenn was the only worker in the building, located at 2457 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, when she started hearing loud noises. Thinking it was coming from construction next door, she continued about her normal duties. A few moments later, the men appeared through the ceiling, yelling at her to get down and pushing her down by the back of her neck, according to authorities.

As the suspects hid behind the cashier’s station, next to where Glenn was forced to lay on the ground, she was able to hear a phone conversation between one of the suspects and someone outside the business, officials said. The person on the other end of the line advised that there was a customer in the lobby. Following instructions from the suspects, Glenn asked the customer to leave and eventually they did, officials said.

Glenn said she saw the suspects take money from the safe and place it in a pink-and-black duffle bag, police said. The suspects then took Glenn to the bathroom and duct-taped her while they checked the rest of the building for money, according to authorities. They eventually fled through the back entrance.

They left in what officials said appeared to be an older model, two-door pickup truck driven by the third suspect.

Glenn called 911 and officers responded around 8:30 a.m. She did not report any injuries and said she did not see any weapons on the suspects.

The scenario echoed another heist at an Atlanta strip club earlier this year.

Two burglars broke into Onyx Gentlemen’s Club on Cheshire Bridge Road from the building’s roof in May and cut open multiple safes with power tools when the club was closed, police said. The thieves spent about two hours inside without tripping the alarm made off with about $250,000.

Much of the crime was captured on video by security cameras inside the club, but the suspects were wearing ski masks and gloves, police said. They were gone by the time police arrived on the scene. Authorities have not released any surveillance footage from the incident.

Anyone with information about the burglary at Atlanta Check Cashiers can submit a tip anonymously to the Crime Stoppers Atlanta tip line at 404-577-TIPS (8477), online at www.StopCrimeAtl.org, or by texting CSA and the tip to CRIMES (274637). There is a reward of up to $2,000.