Two 15-year-old boys are in custody and as many as five more young men are being sought after the group descended on a coffee shop in southeast Atlanta on Wednesday morning and robbed the store and its customers, police said.
Police responded to a robbery call about 9:30 a.m. at the Drip Coffee Shop in the 900 block of Garrett Street S.E.
Victims and witnesses told officers that five to seven young males had entered the business, and one produced a handgun, according to Atlanta police spokesman Officer John Chafee.
One victim, Jay Santiago, was placing his order at the time.
"They ordered everybody onto the ground, (and) one of the kids came up to me and grabbed my cash," Santiago told Channel 2 Action News. There were children in the store, he said, and "one of the guys had a gun in their mom's face. That was pretty traumatic for them."
Police told Channel 2 that the suspects took iPods, cell phones, an iPad from the business and money out of the tip jar before fleeing.
“Officers were given a description of the suspects and were advised that they left the scene in a white van,” Chafee told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an email.
"The descriptions were given out to officers in the area and a short time later, officers located a white Dodge Grand Caravan with two 15-year-old juveniles walking from it,” Chafee said.
Investigators brought the youths back to the coffee shop, where witnesses identified them, Channel 2 reported.
Both were charged with armed robbery. Their names were not disclosed because they are minors.
“We will be working to identify the rest and charge them as well,” Chafee said.
No one was injured in the stick-up, he said. No stolen goods have been recovered.
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