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The Blotter June 28 2006

Bizarre crimes from Atlanta police reports

A MAN met a brown-haired woman at a restaurant on Buford Highway. She said that he could be taught how to be a card dealer and work in a Las Vegas casino — in exchange for a small fee. So the man went to a hotel on Peachtree Road and met with three men who further explained the details of becoming a card dealer. Then, the man went to a bank and withdrew $8,000 and gave it to the men — the money he had to pay to become a card dealer. Later, the man went back to their hotel room to pick up a package containing his airline ticket and card-dealer training materials, but no one was in the hotel room. He hasn’t heard from any of the people who offered to train him to be card dealer. And he’s out $8,000.

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A LAWRENCEVILLE WOMAN called police and said a 51-year-old man is missing. (She is married to this man’s nephew.) She said the man was last seen on May 17 at 10 a.m. According to the police report, this man “has a history of crack cocaine usage and has signs of dwarfism.” The man is 4 feet 9 inches tall, with missing teeth and a scar on his forehead.

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AROUND 2 A.M., a concerned citizen flagged down a police officer on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The citizen said he’d just seen a naked man standing on the sidewalk. The officer found the naked man and arrested him for public indecency. The naked man said he took off his clothes because he thought he was going to have a seizure. He went to jail.

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A 27-YEAR-OLD WOMAN said she’s gotten nine or 10 harassing phone calls from another woman. She said the woman calls her by name and tells her to “come downstairs and get the pills.” She also said a few months ago, she got text messages from someone claiming to be with the National Herpes Foundation or Hotline. The woman said she thinks she knows the caller, but she isn’t sure and doesn’t want to accuse anyone.

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A WOMAN who lives in Jacksonville, Fla., said she got a call from her son, who lives in Atlanta. He said he’d been kidnapped and the kidnappers were going to shoot him if she didn’t send $5,000. The woman said she spoke with a kidnapper, who said if she didn’t send the money, he would do something to her son.

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Police traced the call and spoke to the alleged kidnapper. Police told him to come to the station in Atlanta. Both the kidnapper and the woman’s son showed up. They said they called the woman and asked her for money, but they never mentioned any kidnapping.

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The son is 32 years old and lives in a shelter.

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A 22-YEAR-OLD MAN returned to his apartment on Verbana Street. Ketchup and mustard were smeared all over the walls, his clothes and his bed. The man said he had an argument with his roommate’s sister. There was no sign of forced entry.

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A POLICE OFFICER was told to be on the lookout for a man in a red shirt, who had been banging on cars and darting in and out of traffic on Peachtree Road. The officer found the man in a telephone booth. The man, age 36, said he was trying to get some money to call his family so he could get back to Baltimore. He said he had an Amtrak ticket to Baltimore, but he got off the train for a few days and wasn’t allowed to reboard using the same ticket. The officer asked if he had any weapons. The man said he had a knife in his front pocket. The blade was 3 inches long. So he was arrested on a weapons violation. The man’s belongings included: a Quran, a green prayer rug, a Life Recovery Bible, a Good News Bible, a Holy Bible, 16 CDs, and some assorted drill bits. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital’s psychiatric ward.

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A MIDDLE-AGED DECATUR MAN was arrested for stealing a $10 hat from a store on Headland Drive. During the arrest, the man’s knee was injured. So the officer took him to Grady Memorial Hospital’s detention center to get his knee examined. The officer wrote, “When we arrived at Grady Detention, we saw the corrections officers sitting watching TV.” The officer explained about the man’s knee injury. One of the corrections officers said the man wasn’t injured and that the police officer should take him to the city jail. The police officer said the man’s right knee was injured and bleeding. The corrections officer said the police officer should tell the jail that the man wasn’t injured. Then, the corrections officer told the injured man to say he wasn’t injured, so the jail would let him in. The police officer said the jail wouldn’t take the man because there was visible blood on his body. But the corrections officer kept saying the police officer should take the man to jail. Then, the corrections officer sat down and starting watching TV again. The police officer wrote, “Just to make the situation clear, I asked [the corrections officer]. ‘So you are refusing my subject?’” The corrections officer said yes. So, the police officer took the injured man to jail. There, the injured man cleaned up his cuts with spit and was accepted by the jail. The police officer reported the incident to his supervisor.

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A MAN walked into a hotel in downtown Atlanta, went into the restroom, and tried to steal 27 rolls of toilet paper. He put the rolls into a large black plastic bag. When police stopped him, the man said he took the toilet paper because he cleans restrooms and his friend told him that he, too, takes toilet paper from this hotel. The man was arrested for shoplifting. The 27 rolls are worth $30.

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lauren.keating@creativeloafing.com

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Items in The Blotter are taken from actual Atlanta police reports. The Blotter Diva compiles them and puts them into her own words.






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