Gunmen robbed five people from their front porch in Cabbagetown Tuesday night and then kidnapped a man, Atlanta police said.
The robbery is the most recent in a series of crimes that have shocked and scared Cabbagetown residents, said Sam Gris, public safety chairman for the Cabbagetown Neighborhood Improvement Association.
"It just seems like people are getting more and more brazen," Gris said. "It's a frustrating time to be in town."
The robbery occurred at a house on Estoria Street around 11 p.m., said police spokesman Carlos Campos.
Gris sent The Atlanta Journal-Constitution an excerpt of the preliminary police report detailing the robbery.
According to the officer's report, five people were sitting on the porch when they saw three men walk by. About 10 minutes later, the men returned with handguns and ordered everyone inside the house.
Once inside, the assailants forced the victims to lie on the ground and took their phones, according to the report. The assailants remained in the home for about 30 minutes, going through rooms and collecting computers.
Then, one assailant suggested that a male victim might have money because he was dressed nicely. So, they forced him into a car waiting outside the home and made him to withdraw money from several nearby ATM's. The cash amount stolen was not disclosed.
According to the report, the assailants told the victim they would keep him until after midnight in order to withdraw more money. When the victim was unable to withdraw more money, one assailant suggested they kill him.
However, a female in the car advised them not to, and the victim was thrown out of the vehicle near Memorial and Columbia drives. A passerby noticed the victim looked disoriented and gave him a ride back to the scene of the robbery.
Gris said he received the excerpt from Valencia Hudson, public safety liaison for City Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong.
Campos said Homicide Unit investigators, who are handling the case even though no one was killed, were not available for comment. He said they were working to identify the suspects.
Gris, a former police officer, said the incident could have ended much worse. "A 30-minute home invasion and kidnapping — that's got all the making of someone being hurt and killed," he said.
In the past, Gris said, the worst crimes residents had to deal with were graffiti or car break-ins, but recently crimes have become more severe.
Campos said, "Crimes have started occurring in areas where we historically have not had problems."
The police spokesman said total arrests in Zone 6, which includes Cabbagetown, have increased by 44 percent this year. He said police have arrested individuals in 12 burglaries and seven robberies this month. He urged residents to report any suspicious activity to police.
On June 20, three people carjacked a woman at gun point at the Milltown Lofts in the 700 block of Wylie Street, less than a half mile away from the site of Tuesday's robbery. A similar incident occurred at there on May 11. Campos said investigators are seeking to determine if the crimes are connected to Tuesday's robbery.
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