Parents turn in suspect in Cabbagetown kidnapping, robbery
After seeing surveillance footage on Channel 2 Action News, parents drove their 15-year-old son to a police station to be arrested Thursday for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a man from a Cabbagetown porch, the TV station reported.
Investigators had released a crystal-clear snapshot of one of three suspects involved in the July 3 incident.
The victim was hanging out with four other friends on Estoria Street around 11 p.m. when three young men, brandishing guns, forced everyone inside the residence. After collecting their cell phones and ransacking the home for other valuables, the burglars — noting that one of the victims was well-dressed — drove him to several nearby cash machines, according to the Atlanta police incident report.
Surveillance footage captured at a Bank of America ATM showed one of the youthful suspects hovering over the captive as he withdrew money.
Atlanta Police Detective Paul Guerruci told Channel 2 that the footage is "extremely valuable to our investigation because it actually depicts the individual who committed this horrible, violent act."
The unidentified victim told police that one of the kidnappers suggested they kill him after he was unable to withdraw any more cash. Another advised against it and the thieves opted instead to throw him out of the car near Memorial and Columbia drives.
The kidnapping was just the latest in a series of brazen crimes that have unnerved the Cabbagetown community.
"It's a frustrating time to be in town," Sam Gris, public safety chairman for the Cabbagetown Neighborhood Improvement Association, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the day after the kidnapping.
—Dispatch editor Angel K. Brooks contributed to this article.
About the Author
A native Atlantan, Boone joined the AJC staff in 2007. He quickly carved out a niche covering crime stories, assuming the public safety beat in 2014. He's covered some of the biggest trials this decade, from Hemy Neuman to Ross Harris to Chip Olsen, the latter of which was featured on Season 7 of the AJC's award-winning "Breakdown" podcast.
