A Marietta man who knocked a woman to the ground when he snatched her purse at gunpoint outside a Cracker Barrel is headed to prison.
Melvin Eugene Ward Sr., 50, was sentenced last week to 35 years behind bars, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. The conviction stems from the February 2019 robbery of a woman who was meeting friends for lunch at the popular Marietta restaurant, authorities said.
According to prosecutors, Ward had been living at an extended stay motel on South Cobb Drive. The manager of the Cumberland Lodge testified that on the day of the robbery, Ward asked how much rent he owed and told the manager he didn’t “want to have to do something stupid” to come up with the money, authorities said.
Later that day, Ward visited a car dealership near the motel and test drove a vehicle, the DA’s office said. He drove the car to the Cracker Barrel near I-75 on Delk Road and waited at the back of the parking lot.
When two Wellstar Health System employees arrived for lunch, Ward ambushed the women with a .40-caliber pistol, DA’s office spokeswoman Latonia Hines said in the release. He pointed the gun at one of the women and demanded her bag, authorities said. He then ripped the purse from the woman’s arms, knocking her to the ground in the parking lot before getting back in the car and returning to his hotel room.
He was arrested within 30 minutes, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
The restaurant’s surveillance cameras captured Ward arriving at and leaving the Cracker Barrel, and officers were able to track the victim’s cellphone back to the man’s hotel, authorities said. When police arrived, the test drive vehicle was parked outside and officers found the beanie Ward had worn during the robbery less than half an hour earlier.
He was convicted Wednesday of armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Because of Ward’s criminal history, he must serve all 35 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole, prosecutors said.
Georgia Department of Corrections records show the 50-year-old has served four stints in prison for various drug and weapons convictions in Cobb. He was most recently released from Montgomery State Prison in May 2016.
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