Sandy Springs Police blotter, Nov. 9-17

The following incidents and arrests represent some, but not all, of the reports filed with Sandy Springs police from Oct. 31 through Nov. 9 and Nov. 12 through Nov. 17.

The following information was provided by Capt. Steve Rose of the Sandy Springs Police Department from its records and the information is presumed to be accurate.

Robbery

3400 block of Glenridge-Stratton Drive — On Nov. 15, a 32-year woman reported that she arrived in her apartment complex parking area around 4 a.m.

When she got out of her car, she was approached by a man who had a gun. He took her purse, at which time she saw a second man remove her cosmetic bag from her car. She said she saw a third man as they left in a silver sedan.

Another car nearby the victim’s appeared to have been broken into, leading the officers to believe that the woman may have interrupted the three men, who originally had intended to break into cars, but decided to rob her when she drove up.

Burglary

600 Block of Highland Park Trail — On Saturday, Nov. 5, someone entered an apartment through a screened window in the bedroom. An  officer found a TV unplugged in the center of the living room. The apartment had been ransacked. The owner was not at home, so items missing were not listed.

900 block of Glengate Place — On Monday, Nov. 7, the resident said he was gone overnight and upon his return, found that someone had entered his home. A safe and documents were taken.

4500 block of Lake Forrest Drive — On Nov. 12, responding to an alarm, the officer found pry marks on the front door. It appears the would-be burglar did not get in.

1600 block of Saddle Ridge Way — On Nov. 14, the residents reported they left around 7:45 a.m. and upon return home, just before 6 p.m., found that the home had been entered and obviously gone through. Several items were taken. The home is on the market and had been shown recently.

Gables Lane — On Nov. 14, the residents said a change jar was not as full as they had left it. They checked the home and discovered  a considerable amount of money that had been stashed in other places in the apartment was gone.

100 block of  Highland Park Drive — On Nov. 15, the 22-year-old resident said she was awakened with a noise, but assumed it was one of her roommates, so she ignored it. She returned to sleep but later found a window was broken and blood was on the blinds. Nothing was out of place. It is not uncommon for burglars to cut themselves when they break a window in an entry attempt. It’s good DNA for the file to compare with later.

7100 block of Peachtree Dunwoody Road — On Nov. 15, someone forced entry into a storage shed and took an Echo leaf blower valued at $250.

3100 block of River Exchange Drive —  On Nov. 15, between about 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., someone entered the apartment and took several items,  including a TV, PS4, iPhone 6, $300 cash, and an HP laptop. The resident said she had opened the window the night before, but forgot to close it. The blinds were out of place and the screen was off, indicating the entry point.

400 block of Glenmont Court — On Nov. 17, someone entered the home and took a stovetop from the kitchen. No forced entry was found.

900 block of Landmark Drive — On Nov. 17, an officer responded to an alarm call and found two landscaping employees working, one in the front yard and one in the back yard. The officer also found that a rear door had pry marks indicating entry or an attempted at it. He detained and spoke to the two employees, as they could now be possible suspects. The landscapers were cooperative and allowed the officers to look in their truck and trailer. It is believed that when they showed up, they may have scared off a would-be burglar. The resident said nothing was taken.

Thefts

800 block E. Powderhorn Road — On Monday, Nov. 7, a 2007 Ford F-150 truck, recently purchased, was taken from a driveway towards the rear of the home. The truck’s keys were in it. The truck had loud dual pipes that woke the complainant when started up around 3 am. The stolen truck was later believed to have been used in a theft from a vehicle on Glenridge Drive about 5:30 am that same morning.

6000 block of Riverchase Drive — On Sunday, Nov. 6, the resident reported missing jewelry.

8725 Roswell Road — On Nov. 12, an 86-year old woman said she had been shopping and had unloaded her groceries into her car. She pushed the cart to the side and drove home. She then realized she had left her purse in the cart. She returned to the store, but the purse was gone. The parking lot video shows a white van pull up and two men get out. They noticed the purse, took it and drove away.

1100 block of Hammond Drive — On Nov. 12 at Fairfield Inn & Suites Marriott, a guest said that while she was out, someone took her Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv face crème from her makeup pouch.

7900 block Colquitt Road — On Nov. 13, a 59-year-old man said someone stole his black Honda Civic from his apartment complex some time during the night.

600 block of Highland Park Trail — On Nov. 13, a 26-year-old woman reported someone took her car from her apartment parking lot.

900 block Bergeron Place –On Nov. 13, a 53-year-old man reported his car had been stolen from his garage during the night. He said the car was inside the closed garage, but he believes his kids left the door open when they returned home earlier. The car’s keys were inside the vehicle. A bike also was taken.

6600 block Roswell Road — On Nov. 15, a business owner said two propane heaters, tower type, were stolen from outside the business. The heaters, each valued at $1,000, had been chained to the fence.

Morgan Falls Road — On Nov. 16, a 24-year-old woman reported that she received a call from a friend who was coming into town and allowed her to stay at her residence. She said her friend stayed at her home, but later decided to stay at a hotel. After she left, the resident noticed her driver’s license and a debit card missing. She called her friend who said she had it and must have taken it by mistake. She drove to the hotel on West Paces Ferry to retrieve her ID and debit card. Two days later she discovered her corporate credit card missing too. The credit card had been subsequently used for about $6,000 in charges in and around the city, including the hotel room, which was rented in the victim’s name. The card issuer’s fraud department is working with her on the theft and fraud. The friend has vamoosed.

8300 block of Roswell Road — On Nov. 18, just after midnight, an officer was called to a restaurant regarding a stolen car. He met with a woman who began to curse at the officer. He finally got her corrected on proper greetings and she told him her acquaintance got upset with her for smoking a cigarette and took her keys and left in her Mercedes convertible.

The cops called the acquaintance who said he was with her, but they arrived in separate cars and that he left because of her belligerence. He told the officers that she is known to use various substances and gets mean when she does.

The officer called the insurance company, retrieved a VIN showing the car was impounded by DeKalb police after being stolen and then recovered back on Nov. 6. The wrecker company said they did not have the car, which was, in fact, registered to her.

There was no indication that the acquaintance took the car and the officer thinks she probably lost her keys. However, the car in question was not in the parking lot, so it was listed as stolen (again.) The officer noted the woman was belligerent the whole time.

Theft from Vehicles

5 Instances of theft from vehicles between Nov. 5 and 6, and 5 instances of theft from vehicles between Nov. 12 and 17.

Assault

800 block of Mt. Vernon Highway — On November 5, a 46-year-old woman reported that about 6:30 pm, she was walking her dog when she was struck in the side of her head with a chicken nugget. She told the officer that someone in a Jeep CJ-7 threw the nugget, which struck her in the temple area of the head and caused a noticeable headache. She declined medical treatment. Granted, we take this seriously because it could have been a bottle—but it wasn’t. It was a chicken nugget.

1100 Hammond Drive — On Nov. 5, an employee called police after being assaulted by another employee. The victim said he is a team leader and as such, addressed an employee because he wore an inappropriate uniform. The two were in the stockroom when the victim addressed the uniform issue. The other guy pushed the victim, then shoved him to the ground and hit him in the mouth. Other employees broke it up. The suspect left. The officer obtained video of the assault and turned it in. The manager of the store declined to give the information on the suspect to the officer until he consulted with Human Resources.

6110 Peachtree-Dunwoody Road — On Nov. 7, cops were called to a hotel just before 6 a.m. They spoke with a woman who said was assaulted by someone she knew as “Chance” and who was sharing the room with her. She said she was in the bathroom when Chance came in and demanded that she owed him $80 and ordered her to “get back out there and earn your money!” He then threw condoms at her. The suspect hit her and then stole $200 from her. The suspect fled prior to police arrival.

The victim said she was leaving that day for Nevada, so the officer gave her the information she would need to pursue a warrant. The room had been rented by a man against whom police reported prior aggravated assault warrants.

6401 Roswell Road — On Nov. 12, an employee said a man came in and walked around the store a couple of times, then took a bottle of tequila, placed it in his sleeve and tried to walk out. The employee tried to stop him, but the man hit him a couple of times in the head and face before running down Roswell Road. The employee was seen by EMS for a swollen eye.

Cedar Run — On Nov. 13, a 36-year-old woman was injured while fighting another woman, according to her husband, who talked to officers at the hospital where she was being treated for a broken arm. The two women were sitting on a sofa. $200 cash was sitting on the sofa between them. The other woman picked the money up, which started the fight. The fight went from the couch to the floor, where the injured woman broke her arm. No one seems to know who the other woman was and why she was in the apartment. The victim and her husband were evasive when asked about the other woman.

Fraud

A 38-year-old man said that a video game was delivered to his apartment from a department store’s internet site. The receipt had his credit card number on it. An email and phone number was on the receipt. When he contacted the department store, they told him an iPhone 7 also had been ordered the day before, bringing the total of the two items to more than $770. He then realized that he lost his credit card.

7840 Holcomb Bridge Road — On Nov. 16,  SunTrust Bank employees reported a woman presented a check for $7,800 to be cashed, along with a Texas ID and debit card. The teller became suspicious during the conversation with her and as such, the woman became nervous. She demanded her ID back, but the teller hung onto it. The woman bolted and got into a red, four-door vehicle driven by a man. The car had a temp tag.

Eight other incidences of fraud were reported between Nov. 12 and 16.

Other things

66 Northwood Drive — On Nov. 1, a 19-year old woman said her car was vandalized by spray paint at some time after midnight. Painted on the car was the dreaded F-bomb and her initials. She said just before, she saw a juvenile next to her car.

8725 Roswell Road — On Nov. 14, the store manager at a grocery said that a man went into the men’s room and sprayed liquid soap from the store container all over the floor. He said this was the fourth time this happened this month.

Another grocery store reported a destroyed toilet on the 16th. It started when a guy flushed his keys. (It always begins with flushed keys.)

A woman reported that her ex-boyfriend has phoned her at work repeatedly and threatened her by telling her he could pay someone $600 to get her and the cops would have no ties. She was given information on how to file for a protective order.

Okay here’s how that goes. The guys who pay $600 to someone to “take care” of others is quickly arrested because that $600 “Take-Care-Of” guy is going to be a moron or undercover cop.

Arrests

Long Island Drive — On Oct. 31, an off-duty officer who was working an off-duty extra job at a construction area noticed a car driving erratically, evidenced by the fact that it was bowling down a couple of road barrels. The officer stopped the driver and as he approached the car, could see she was on the phone. She said she was speaking with her ex-husband. The officer’s report said he noted a smell of alcohol. She said she was lost in the area, on the phone with her ex-husband, and trying to locate one of her ex-husband’s coworkers for a “booty call.” She was eventually arrested for impaired driving.

Willow Glen — On Nov. 5 a woman was arrested after a complaint was made to police about a drunken and loud woman. Officers located a woman matching the description. The caller said she was in the parking lot breaking things and yelling. She refused to provide ID to the officer and continued to act disorderly.

8725 Roswell Road — On Nov. 5 A woman was detained after grocery store security officers observed her stealing meat and eggplant(s) and then trying to leave. She was later cited for shoplifting items valued at $11.96 and released with a trespass warning and a court date.

Another shoplifter at the same grocery store was detained after he put some Advil down his trousers. He too was cited and given a trespass warning not to return. The Advil was recovered.

Yet another shoplifter was caught at the same store after lifting some Sinex Nasal Spray ($6.79) and dropping it in his jacket pocket, then trying to walk out. Another citation and court date. He said he forgot to pay for it.

915 Crestline Parkway — On Nov. 6, two would-be thieves were arrested about 1:30 a.m. after a witness called the police after seeing two men looking into cars in the parking lot at a suites hotel. The complainant chased them to a nearby parking lot after calling the cops. (We don’t recommend this.)

The officers checked the parking lot, finding a white SUV with feet sticking out from under the car. The officer circled the car, watching the feet move, as if to hide, but unaware that they were really, really visible. The officer finally rousted the two subjects up and spoke to them. One said he was homeless and the other said he was from Acworth and came to Sandy Springs to be homeless with his buddy while they drank.

Although they were not seen breaking into cars, the area has a notable theft rate and so the two were arrested for loitering and prowling and taken to jail.

1600 Windridge Drive — On Nov. 6, police were called to a theft in progress, a suspect stealing rims off tires—something we’ve been having a lot of over the past several weeks. An update said there were two suspects. When the cops arrived, they saw one subject running between apartment buildings. The cops gave chase, yelling for him to stop. He didn’t. He he ran right off the edge of a 20-foot drop onto some rocks. He got up and continued to run into the wooded area with two officers chasing him. He was caught without much difficulty. The second subject absconded.

The arrested man ended up in the hospital with a back injury and a bruised lung. He remained a day or so in the hospital before being transferred to jail.  Detectives said there were other charges pending against the suspect, and Brookhaven and Chamblee Police departments were looking at him as well.

On Nov. 9 one man is in custody after threatening to do harm at the Holy Innocents Episcopal School on Mount Vernon Highway. He was not on the school property when he made threats, but did so via text and/or e-mails. His vehicle was spotted and stopped by officers who took him into custody. There was a weapon in the car. Holy Innocents was in lockdown mode for a while and has since dismissed classes for the day.

5565 New Northside Drive — On Nov. 12, cops were called about 2 a.m. to a restaurant regarding a drunk guy with a can of beer in his hand who wanted to fight just about everybody. Employees said that he came in with the beer and took exception of being asked to leave. He tried to climb over the counter, but apparently was too drunk. He challenged everyone in the restaurant to a fight. He told the officers that he walked to this location from Lithonia and the restaurant didn’t serve him. He was arrested.

5500 block of Kingsport Drive — On Nov. 12, a man said he was with a group of friends who later beat him up and took his car. The officer said as he was talking to the victim, the car pulled up with three men inside. When they saw the officer, they tried to back out, but he stopped and detained them. They told the officer that they were all driving around and drinking beer, but they did not take the car without permission. The victim’s story kept changing, too. The theft was never validated, however one subjects was wanted on a probation violation and the others were charged with various counts related to open container, underage possession and unlicensed driving.

8725 Roswell Road — On Nov. 12, employees at a grocery store detained a person after she took some items from the cooler and attempted to leave without paying. The value of the items in the shoplifting attempt totaled more than $500. She was arrested.

6500 block of Old Riverside Road — On Nov. 13, about 3:30 p.m., officers answered a complaint about three teenagers in the wooded area near a home. The officer walked toward them and noticed they were smoking marijuana. A small jar and small amount of marijuana were confiscated. Two of the kids were juveniles and turned over to parents pending juvenile court dates. The other, aged 17, was given a citation to appear in court.