A man who has been stealing mail all over metro Atlanta was arrested in Sandy Springs recently after a witness caught him in the act, police said.
Justin J. Lawrence, 26 of Fairburn, was pulled over, arrested and then taken to the Sandy Springs police headquarters on May 13 after officers searched his car and found mail from Canton, Covington, Sandy Springs, Peachtree City, Stone Mountain and Gwinnett County.
Lawrence — who was in the car with his two-year-old son and a woman — was stopped by police on Mt. Paran Road shortly after a neighborhood resident called police and said she saw a “suspicious driver” coming down her street. The woman told police she saw a Nissan Altima with black wheels and black tinted windows driving past her house multiple times. She also told police she saw the man opening mailboxes.
An officer pulled the car over and, according to the police report, Lawrence told police his GPS wasn’t working and he was trying to find Perimeter Mall. The officer then asked to search his car, but Lawrence refused.
Officers told Lawrence he matched the description that two witnesses gave of a man looking into mailboxes. He was arrested, and $800 cash was found in his front pocket, police said.
The woman and the child left the scene in an Uber, police said.
Police then searched the car and found mail in the passenger side front floorboard, the glove compartment and in the trunk. None of the mail belonged to Lawrence, police said.
Lawrence was charged with criminal trespassing, theft by receiving stolen property and received a traffic citation because his son was not was not buckled in his seat properly.
A court date for Lawrence has been set for June 21.
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