The Blotter September 25 2003

An employee of a burrito shop on Glenwood Avenue said a middle-aged man wearing glasses walked inside, grabbed the candy machine at the front door, and fled in a pickup truck. The man didn't say anything and walked quickly out the door. Police issued a lookout on the radio for the man and his car.

The manager of a paint-and-wall-covering store on Roswell Road said an elderly woman whom he knows is calling the store 40-50 times a day. She says things like, "I ain't been to school, but I got an education, and I am going to bake me a pie, goodbye."

A 48-year-old woman invited a male friend over to her house on Mekoma Street. When the friend was ready to leave, the woman didn't open the door quick enough for him. So the friend kicked the door several times, causing $150 worth of damage. The friend had a crew cut and wore a plaid shirt.

A woman on Rosalia Avenue heard a noise on her front porch. She walked outside to investigate. On her porch, she found an Atlanta Police Department radio (valued at $2,500). She called police. "[The radio] looks like it has been outside for a while," noted the reporting officer. He took the radio to City Hall East and discovered that it had been stolen the day before. No suspects.

A 56-year-old man owns a rental house on Redford Drive. The house was vacant for several weeks. The 56-year-old contacted police and said drug addicts and/or homeless people had entered his home and defecated on the carpet. Missing items included two doors, an air conditioner, an oven and a refrigerator. According to the police report, the carpet was ruined with human waste.

At a grocery store on Piedmont Avenue, the manager saw a 45-year-old man conceal two cans of Vienna sausage (total: $1.03) in his coat and try to leave the store. The man was arrested for shoplifting.

The owner of a recycled materials business on Murphy Street said someone robbed his business. The telephone lines were cut. The thief entered by removing a panel on a windowpane. The only items missing: one bag of peppermint candy and a box of 40 cigarette lighters.

A security guard at a grocery store on Piedmont Avenue saw a 42-year-old man try to steal 11 packs of playing cards. The security guard stopped the man and called police. The man said he needed the playing cards to exchange for crack cocaine. He went to jail.

An officer saw a 28-year-old woman standing in the eastbound lane of Bankhead Highway. She wore only a T-shirt and a black jacket. In one hand, she clutched an open bottle of whiskey. There was an abrasion on her knee. The officer asked her what happened. She said only that she had been in an accident on South Grand Avenue. She was charged with public indecency and taken to Grady Hospital.

A 39-year-old man on Ashby Grove Street invited a man and woman to his home for dinner. While the 39-year-old was cooking dinner, the two guests got into an argument in the bedroom. The 39-year-old opened the bedroom door to find out what was going on. Both guests had blood streaming from open wounds. One guest had broken the bedroom window. Both guests fled before police arrived.

A 42-year-old man said he left the keys in the ignition of his black pickup truck, with the door open. He got out and used the restroom at a gas station on the corner of Lakewood Avenue and Jonesboro Road. When he returned two minutes later, his truck was gone.

In Midtown, an officer saw a 46-year-old man walking with a blue bag on his shoulder. The officer asked him what was in the bag. The man said it was a stereo and he was taking it to a friend's place on Boulevard. The officer asked where he got the stereo. The man said he got it from his apartment on Argonne Avenue. The officer examined the stereo and noticed two tapes and three CDs inside the stereo. The officer asked the man what kind of music was on the tapes. Rap and contemporary music, said the man. The officer asked if he could listen to the music. Yes, said the man. The officer listened to the tapes and noted, "The tapes had classical and big band swing music on them." The man changed his story and said he bought the stereo from a short man near Grady High School. The officer drove the man to the address of the man's alleged apartment on Argonne Avenue. The neighbors said the man didn't live there. He went to jail.

According to a police report, a man said he witnessed another man dump "a living suit" onto a vacant lot near the intersection of Verbena Street and Sewanee Avenue. The witness said that the trash-dumper was driving a red Chevy pickup truck, and people frequent the area in order to dump trash. No further information.

All items in The Blotter are taken from actual Atlanta police reports and are public record.