The Blotter August 01 2007

A CONVERSATION-STARTER FOR THE HIGH-SCHOOL REUNION: A 22-year-old man said a red-haired man was at his apartment to record a song. He said the red-haired man grabbed his hair and stuck a gun to his forehead. The 22-year-old said he told the red-haired man to take whatever he wanted. The red-haired man allegedly duct-taped the 22-year-old to a chair and proceeded to take all his recording equipment (a CD player, a mixer board, a control panel, a microphone, a computer with tons of software, two flat-screen monitors, a keyboard with drums, and a drum machine). The 22-year-old said the suspect was very sloppy while he took stuff, and he put the gun on a table several times. The 22-year-old said he could have grabbed the gun, but didn’t want to die over some recording equipment (total worth: $7,225). He said he was able to run out the apartment’s back door, while the red-haired suspect loaded all his recording equipment into a gray truck. The 22-year-old said the suspect is known as “Big Red” and has a MySpace page — and they went to high school together and graduated in 2003.

??
A STRANGE LESSON? A 20-year-old female student said she returned home from class one morning and found a stranger in her apartment on 16th Street. “Do you have any jumper cables?” the stranger asked. “No,” she said. Then the stranger — a man in his 20s — ran out the front door. Police found no signs of forced entry on her apartment door or windows.

??
GREAT EXPECTATIONS: Two pregnant women tussled while waiting for their scheduled appointments at Crawford Long Hospital. A police officer deduced: A 24-year-old pregnant woman was pushing her baby stroller and walking by, when she gave an 18-year-old pregnant woman a “mean look” in the hospital waiting room. The 18-year-old rushed toward her and started arguing. “Both suspects were reported to having been directly in each other’s face, yelling at each other,” the officer noted. A witness tried to separate the pregnant women — no luck. Then the pregnant women punched and kicked each other. Both pregnant women got tickets for disorderly conduct. Turns out the 24-year-old pregnant woman had fought in the past with the 18-year-old pregnant woman’s sister, the officer noted. No injuries reported.

??
THAT’S WHY IT’S CALLED “FREEDOM” PARKWAY: Around 5 a.m., a 60-year-old man said he was sitting in his car at an intersection on Freedom Parkway when a man reached in and grabbed his wallet from the front seat. The suspect got away. He is described as a man about 32 years old and 6 feet 2 inches tall.

??
DOWN ON PONCE: Police got a call about a suspicious woman, wearing a white robe and one slipper, at the intersection of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Monroe Drive. Apparently, the woman was wandering in and out of traffic. An officer found the woman, age 45, and ran a computer check. Turns out there was a warrant for her arrest on July 29, 1991, in Conyers. Also, there was a “failure to appear” in court for a speeding ticket. So the officer arrested the woman and took her to Fulton County Jail. There, sheriffs said she needed to go to Grady Memorial Hospital for a mental evaluation.

??
I WANT CANDY: An officer responded to a call about a store clerk lying on top of a suspected shoplifter outside a store on Metropolitan Parkway. When the officer arrived, he saw the clerk and an unidentified man struggling on the ground with the suspect. Both the clerk and the suspect were bleeding and exhausted, the officer noted. “I also observed an open carton of Snickers candy bars next to where the struggle had taken place.”

??
The officer handcuffed the suspect. The unidentified man, who had blood on his clothes, said, “It’s unbelievable how strong that guy is.” He said he’d helped the clerk stop the suspect, but he was in a hurry and didn’t want to be listed in the report. The suspect was arrested for allegedly trying to steal the 24-pack of Snickers candy bars (worth $50). He has “13 1/2” tattooed on his arm.

??
The clerk said during the struggle, the suspect bit down on his arm and wouldn’t let go until police arrived. Grady medics said the clerk should go to a hospital. The clerk declined, saying he couldn’t leave work. (The Blotter Diva notes: This clerk deserves a major raise!)

??
ENOUGH TIME TO WASTE: A woman said her 2007 Toyota Sienna van was parked in the driveway of her home on Valley Brook Drive. She said around 1 a.m., her husband went to the van and left it unlocked. The next morning, the couple said, the car was ransacked: Three gift cards worth $65 were gone, a long slash ran inside the car, near the drop-down DVD player, and some wrapped snacks and drinking water were left in the car. Plus, some human feces was left in the back seat.

??
EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE: On Ivy Chase Way, a 24-year-old man said someone left a note on his car. The note read: “I’ll be watching you — fucko.” The man said he has no known enemies or ex-girlfriends.

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