The man and woman accused of bringing a baby along during two armed robberies were in custody Friday, according to police.
Brandon Nicholas Lawson, 21, was arrested Thursday night in Macon and booked into the Bibb County jail and is expected to be returned to Atlanta to face charges, Officer John Chafee with Atlanta police said in an emailed statement. Lawson, on parole at the time of his latest arrest, has been in state prison three separate occasions, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections and State Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Friday afternoon, Joi Monai Jenkins, 18, was in custody and being interviewed, according to Atlanta police Sgt. Curtis Davenport. Both Lawson and Jenkins will be charged with armed robbery, Davenport said.
Lawson, of Atlanta, was arrested by Bibb County police for allegedly stealing a vehicle and giving a false name, jail records show.
But there was already a warrant for Lawson’s arrest, issued by Atlanta police. Police on Tuesday released photos and surveillance footage showing a couple, with a baby, suspected in the Buckhead crimes, and tips from the public identified the couple, police said.
A 60-year-old man was robbed while walking home from the Publix across from Phipps Plaza on Saturday night. Moments after the man saw a woman with a stroller and a crying baby, a male suspect held a gun to his head and demanded his money and credit cards, according to the police report. The victim gave the suspect his wallet and his ATM card’s PIN number.
The next afternoon, a 68-year-old man on Oak Valley Road reported a similar incident, police said. As he and a friend were walking home from the grocery store, an armed man threatened to kill them if they didn’t turn over their wallets, the report said.
After spending four months in state prison, Lawson spent several months in the Fulton County jail following a June 2009 arrest on numerous traffic and forgery charges, booking records show. He was released from jail Jan. 27, 2010, and was booked again into state prison the same day, DOC records show.
Lawson was released from state prison in June 2010, returned to prison in December and was released in February, booking records show.
Jenkins’ criminal history includes a September 2011 arrest on a shoplifting charge, according to Fulton County jail records. She was being held Friday night without bond.
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