The following information was provided by Capt. Steve Rose of the Sandy Springs Police Department from its records and is presumed to be accurate.
Burglary
100 block of Legran Court – On March 13, a resident told police someone broke into his home over the weekend by way of a second-story patio door. Missing items included an Apple computer, 55-inch Sony flat screen TV, GoPro camera and a PS game system.
Landsdowne Drive – On March 15, someone entered a residence by forcing open a kitchen window. The home was rummaged through, but nothing was found to be missing at the time of the report. The resident said this has happened before and he knew of someone who may be a good suspect.
Summit Springs Drive – A resident said that on March 15, someone entered her apartment during the day and took seven purses valued at $3,000. Also taken were a $1,700 clock and $200 in shoes.
800 block of Brandywine Circle – On March 16, a man reported that a friend, whom he gave a key to his residence, broke into his home approximately three years ago and stole several items.
500 block of Forest Dale Drive – On March 16, a man told police he left his residence from 9:30 a.m. to just after 2 p.m. When he returned, he found someone had broken into his home. Several items were taken.
100 block of Osner Drive – On March 21, someone broke into a home by forcing open a kitchen window. The person looked around the bedroom, but took nothing.
Thefts
700 block of Hammond Drive – On March 21, a man told police he rented his condo out for one night. The next day he saw a locked closet was forced open and some of his jewelry was taken.
6300 block of Barfield Road – On March 21, a 47 year-old man reported someone took his wallet from the conference room of his workplace. He said only employees and cleaning staff have access.
8600 block of Roswell Road – On March 13, an employee of an e-cigarette store told police several items were missing after a previous employee left the store. A surveillance video shows the ex-employee taking a bottle of “Fryd-Banana” sampler and placing it in her pocket. The woman then hastily left, got into her car and drove away.
6400 block of Roswell Road – A man reported this to police on March 13: He went to a strip club and paid $100 for a VIP room, $10 tip to a bartender and $400 for a dancer to perform. During the performance, the man said he believed he was being taken advantage of and demanded his money back. The dancer said she did not have the money because $10 went to the bartender, $100 went to the waitress for the use of the room and $185 went to the club manager, but she did not receive the balance. The club paid back $285.
1100 block of Mt. Vernon Highway – The manager of a restaurant said that on March 14 two women walked out after ordering $41 in food. The women were eating right at closing time, asked for a to-go box and then exited to the parking lot. The manager said he followed them and told them they had not paid for their meals. The women said the server had “disrespected” them and they were angry that the lights were turned out while they were still eating. They said they would not pay and quickly got into their car and left. The manager got the tag number which is registered to a person in DeKalb County.
5600 block of PDR – On March 15, a man said his tools were stolen from a construction area at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
2300 block of Monterrey Parkway – On March 16, a woman said she left her laptop on top of her car while she went back into her house to get something. When she returned, the laptop was gone.
700 block of Hammond Drive – On March 16, a 32 year-old man called police and told them his ex-girlfriend came to his apartment to confront him about his new girlfriend. She took his Ray Ban aviator sunglasses, Apple iPad mini and Bulova watch and left.
7800 block of Roswell Road – On March 17, an employee of an adult novelty store said two men were told to leave the store. While one man was making a purchase, the other man was seen stealing money from the store’s tip jar.
6000 block of Barfield Road – On March 19, the manager of a hotel reported a guest skipped on a $2,000 bill, leaving the location in a red Chevy S-10 pickup. The man checked in on Feb. 28 and was scheduled to leave March 28. The man’s credit card was declined to pay the bill and when staff went to his room to tell him they needed another form of payment he told them he would be down in an hour to handle it. He didn’t show up and was seen leaving.
1100 block of Mount Vernon Highway – On March 19, a man reported his items were stolen while he was playing basketball on the court; the items were left courtside. Less than an hour later, another man at the same gym reported his items were taken after he left his items on the court while he played racquetball. Police suspect the same person.
Thefts from vehicles
Between March 6 and March 13, there were 16 thefts from vehicles reported.
Assault
300 block of Northridge Road – On March 12, a 25 year-old man told police he was walking on Northridge Road at about 6 p.m. when he was shot in the leg. He called a friend who took him to Northside Hospital with a non life-threatening wound. The man said he heard four gunshots when he was hit. The story is under investigation and a good deal of scrutiny.
200 block of Sandy Springs Place – On March 17, police were called to a grocery store around 6:30 p.m. due to a disturbance. An angry customer wanted to pick up cash from the Western Union location but because the man was so angry the manager told him he couldn’t be helped until he calmed down. The man became angrier and threw a pen, hitting the manager in the face. The manager was not injured.
Fraud
8700 block of Roswell Road — A check-cashing store reported a man came in and cashed a payroll check from a convenience store for more than $600. The check was later found to be fake.
A 21 year-old woman reported she was contacted by phone by a woman with a Caribbean accent who said she was an IRS agent trying to collect a debt of more than $7,000. The 21 year-old eventually went to a store on Northwood Drive, one on Delk Road and one on Spring Road in Smyrna, making three Moneygram payments covering more than $8,000. When the young woman got another call requesting $12,000, she realized she had been scammed.
IRS doesn’t want your payment via Moneygrams. Learn to be politely skeptical on anything that involves you giving away money in circumstances you are not familiar with.
Arrests
5800 block of Riverside Drive – On March 12, just after 1 a.m., an officer spotted a truck parked in the parking lot of a church. He checked the driver who was wanted on warrants by the Atlanta Police Department and the State Pardons and Parole Board. He was arrested.
On March 12, at about noon, cops were called to the leasing office of an apartment complex on the 4800 block of Roswell Road. The apartment complex employee said a man calling himself “Izzel” entered the office and rummaged through it and either spit or spilled malt liquor on the walls in the bathroom and generally trashed the place.
Izzel asked if he could rent an apartment and then said he had no weapons. To prove his point he pulled down his pants exposing his underwear. The employee told him to leave and he ran from the complex.
An officer found a man fitting Izzel’s description at a bus stop near the complex and he answered to being called Izzel. He said he was in the office but only because he had to urinate frequently. He was identified by the employee and arrested.
300 block of River Exchange Drive — On March 15, police were called to meet a cabbie at an apartment complex. The driver said he picked up a man at a local hospital and took him to a location near Holcomb Bridge Road at about 7 a.m. The fare left the cab without paying. The officer found the man sitting on a stairwell and spoke to him. The man was Russian and spoke broken English and he said something about the U.S. Marshal’s office and showed the officer his ankle monitor. He was later taken to jail on the theft of $50 worth of services.
200 block of Windridge Drive – On March 15, a 26 year-old man told police his female roommate struck him in the face at least twice in an argument over bills. The roommate admitted to slapping him. She was arrested.
200 block of Sandy Springs Place – On March 16, a grocery store pharmacy called police after pharmacists filled two prescriptions for a woman and gave them to her before realizing they were fraudulent prescriptions. The woman left in a white Nissan. A description was given of the car and locations and an officer spotted a car matching the description. The officer pulled the woman driver over on Hammond Drive near the City Walk area. She told the officer she had just picked up a prescription. A pharmacy employee identified her and she was arrested on forgery first degree charge.
On March 18, cops received a call of a person who appeared to be sick while driving a 2005 Honda CRV in the left-turn lane on Roswell Road near Northridge Road. The officer saw the driver, who looked like he was asleep with his head tilted back and mouth open. The car’s gear was in drive and the man’s foot on the brake. The Honda was moving slightly so the officer tried to move his car in front to stop it. The man then woke and moved his car over to the side of the road at the officer’s request.
The man told the officer he was tired from partying on St. Patrick’s Day. The officer called an EMS unit and the EMS crew spotted what appeared to be narcotics in a cigarette box in the front seat. The driver tried to hold onto the box but it was taken by the officer and found to contain a tan/brown powder in a baggie, suspected to be heroin. The driver confirmed it was heroin said he snorted some three hours prior to being stopped. The man also had tracks on his arm. He failed field sobriety tests and was booked on driving while impaired.
5100 block of Roswell Road – On March 18, a discount department store employee called police on a shoplifting case. Officers stopped the suspect and he had $400 worth of golf balls. He was taken to jail.
5700 block of Roswell Road – On March 19, an officer saw a man crossing the street and not yielding for traffic. He stopped the man and interviewed him and found him to be wanted by Fulton County Sheriff’s Department for failure to appear on a shoplifting charge. He was arrested.
Other
Officers stopped a car after running the tag and getting a return that the car was stolen in the city of Atlanta and reported to the Atlanta Police Department. The driver was removed from his car and placed in handcuffs. He told the officers, and later showed them, that he was the registered owner of the car. He told them he reported the car stolen in November but then found the car had been towed for insurance issues. He said he called APD and informed the motor vehicle theft detective of the circumstances.
He received a call back and then assumed the theft report was deleted. The car was never taken off the Georgia Crime Information Computer (GCIC)/NCIC so it showed active when the Sandy Springs Police Department officer ran the tag.
If you should ever report your car or other vehicle stolen and later recovered, be sure to follow up with the police officer or detective and get confirmation that the car is removed from the GC IC.
200 block of Sandy Springs Place – On March 19, a security officer at a grocery store said that just before 10:30 p.m., a group of women came in and wanted to return items to the service desk, which closed at 10 p.m. The women became angry when they learned the desk was closed and “voiced their displeasure.” One woman said she was going to get her mother. An older woman entered the store and yelled at staff members and all of the women were ejected from the store. The report said the older woman was being held back by the others. They got into a Dodge Charger and left.