Gwinnett Blotter November 25 2000

Police were called to a Lawrence-ville apartment complex regarding criminal trespass. When the officer met with the victim and witness, a man and woman told the officer that the suspect, who does not live in the complex, and some neighborhood children had been sitting on their vehicles. ?
The couple said they asked the kids to get off the vehicles and to stay off them. They also reported the children and the suspect got smart-mouthed with them. ?
The woman said the suspect threw a small board toward her car, hitting it on the left side. No damage could be found on the vehicle. ?
The suspect said he did not throw the board and that the man told him if he did not stay away from his vehicles that he would kick his ass. The suspect was told to stay away from the cars. ?
The victim wanted a report to show apartment management in an attempt to have them give the suspect a criminal trespass warning. The victim was advised not to take matters into his own hands, but to contact the police if he had a problem.
Police were dispatched to a trouble unknown call at a convenience store in Stone Mountain. While en route, the call was updated to an armed robbery in progress. ?
As the officer approached the business, he was told the offender had left the business on foot and was seen walking toward the back of the store. ?
Before meeting with the victim, the officer made a check of the rear of the store. The officer checked the parking lots of a daycare center and a grocery store located behind the store. He did not locate the offender. ?
The cashier told the officer that while she was working behind the counter, a man wearing a knit cap with long dreadlocks approached her with his hand underneath his shirt as if he had a gun. He told her to open the register and hand him the money. When she did, the robber secured the bills somewhere in his clothing. He told her to go to the rear of the store, not to look at him and not to use the telephone. The burglar then left. ?
After the offender left, the manager called. The cashier told her what happened and then hung up to call 911. While the officer was there, a somewhat suspicious phone call came into the store. The clerk alerted the officer to the conversation and he listened on an extension for several minutes as she spoke with the caller. ?
He seemed vague and strange, asking her if she was alone and what she had been doing for the past few minutes. She asked the caller how much money he had gotten and he seemed confused, but finally said $40. The clerk told the male caller she had a customer, but there was another cashier in the store and asked him if he would speak to the other cashier. ?
The officer spoke to him for several moments and he was vague and reluctant to answer questions, however, he did not sound as if he had just robbed the store. He sounded as if he was calling to ask the cashier for a date. ?
After the officer identified himself, the man gave the officer two different names. When asked why he was calling, he said he was trying to call a department store where his ex-girlfriend worked. The number was one digit off the number of the convenience store. When the officer called that number, it was a fax machine. ?
The man on the phone was white, according to a report that came back on him. While watching the video, the suspect was black. Due to the lack of evidence, the case was turned over to the robbery unit.
Three men were painting the exterior of a house when a bare-chested 18-year-old Alpharetta man holding a jagged stick in one hand and smaller sticks in the other approached them. ?
The man said he was the neighbor and that the painters weren’t supposed to be there. They tried to explain that they were hired to paint the house, but the erratic man wouldn’t listen and he began to kick and shake a 32-foot ladder on which one of the painters was standing. ?
The two other painters approached the man, but the 18-year-old stomped at them and was “threatening to beat some ass.” ?
The painters said they were going to call the police and the man left. When the police arrived, the man returned and he was arrested for simple assault.
Adam Van Wickel contributed to this report.