A 30-year-old South Carolina woman was arrested Thanksgiving night after allegedly robbing a woman at gunpoint in Buckhead.
But when investigators searched Farrah Austin’s car, they found a wallet from a man she allegedly robbed earlier the same day in Dunwoody, police said Thursday.
Around 9 p.m. Nov. 28, Warren Wilson, 76, told police he was leaving McCormick and Schmick’s in Dunwoody after dinner when someone approached him wearing what he thought was a security badge. The person then pulled a gun on him and demanded his wallet, cell phone and keys, Wilson told Channel 2 Action News. Wilson said he initially thought the woman was a man.
“She wasn’t aggressive except for the fact she was holding a pistol in her hand,” Wilson said.
Wilson obliged, and the robber left the area in four-door vehicle, according to police. Police said apparently the robber wasn’t done.
An hour later and about 9 miles away in Buckhead, police say Austin allegedly targeted a second man, who told them he thought the suspect was a man.
William Funderburke was leaving the Sports Authority in the 3200 block of Peachtree Road shortly after 10 p.m. when he was approached by a tall suspect wearing dark clothing and a dark beanie on her head, according to a police report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“It caught me off guard,” Funderburke said. “I think the first thing I said is ‘Are you serious’?”
Funderburke and his girlfriend provided Atlanta officers with a description of the suspect, and a “lookout” for a silver Dodge Charger was broadcast over the police radio system. Three miles away, an officer spotted a car matching the description of the one used in the armed robbery. Funderburke helped identify the car’s driver, Austin, as the one who took his wallet, according to police.
Austin was arrested at the scene without incident. During a search of Austin’s car, officers found wallets belonging to Wilson and Funderburke.
Atlanta police charged Austin with armed robbery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and two counts of financial transaction card theft and she was booked into the Fulton County jail. When she is released from the Fulton jail, she will be transported to the DeKalb County jail, according to Dunwoody police.
Dunwoody police charged Austin with armed robbery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, elder abuse and financial transaction card theft, said Officer Tim Fecht.
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