Atlanta police make second arrest in string of robberies, home invasions

Boyer, 39, was shot dead around 10 p.m. on Nov. 22 outside an apartment building on Virginia Avenue near the intersection with Monroe Drive. He and his girlfriend were getting out of their car when three masked men demanded her apartment keys and started marching the couple to her apartment. Boyer was shot in a struggle, but his girlfriend escaped without injury, police said.

The man was arrested Tuesday for an incident that happened on Nov. 27, police said. In that case, Hannibal Heredia was gardening when a car squealed to a stop in the alley behind him and two men jumped out. One stuck a gun in his face and ordered him back into the home.

Once inside, he, his wife and 9-year-old daughter were ordered to lie face down on the floor while the men shouted threats. The intruders took their wedding rings, flat-screen TVs and other valuables and were loading them into the family Audi when the Heredias made a break to a neighbor’s home. The attackers sped off, leaving behind a vehicle they had carjacked.

Police say this is the second arrest they've made that could lead them to solving Boyer's slaying as well as other robberies and home invasions. On Nov. 30, police charged a man with armed robbery and aggravated assault in connection with a Nov. 8 attack on a taxicab driver in southeast Atlanta.

Police did not release the man's name but questioned him about the stolen Toyota SUV.

Police say both men have been shown on video that links them to the SUV, taken at gunpoint on Greenview Avenue on Nov. 26.

The video, recorded at a convenience store, showed an African-American man in a Mohawk haircut, red polo shirt and jeans with embroidered rear pockets walk into the unidentified store before returning to a black Toyota Highlander, where another black man in dreadlocks, jeans, black jacket and dark skull cap was pumping gas.

Police later found the Toyota SUV in a MARTA parking lot. It contained Boyer's cell phone and identification, authorities said.

Neither man has been charged in Boyer's death, but police say since their arrests, no additional incidents matching the brazen robberies and home invasions have taken place.

On Nov. 23, three intruders accosted a man at his home in Grant Park, shooting at him but missing. An SUV, headlights off, was seen driving away. The next night, a man walking in the 600 block of Home Avenue was robbed by three thieves who forced their way into his residence. Again, a dark SUV was spotted in the area, police said.

“I’m proud to say we are making significant progress in these cases,” said Police Chief George Turner. “But our investigators are still working to solve the murder of Charles Boyer and put together some more pieces to this puzzle that will, hopefully, link many of these crimes. Ultimately, I’m hoping we will take some dangerous criminals off of the streets.”

--Staff writers Christian Boone Marcus K. Garner, Bill Torpy and Ty Tagami contributed to this report.