Theft Victim Beaten at Restaurant

A Chick-Fil-A restaurant patron was assaulted Wednesday when he tried to stop a man from stealing his cell phone, Decatur police reported.

Police said a 37-year-old man was sitting in the restaurant when a man walked by and grabbed the phone, which was lying on the table. The man who owned the cell phone tried to stop the suspect and a fight broke out. Several unidentified males then assaulted the owner of the phone, police said.

The phone owner’s name was not released and it was not known if he was hospitalized.

Responding officers found the main suspect, 19-year-old Taurus Barber, near the Decatur library and arrested him after a foot chase. He was charged with felony robbery, misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor obstruction of a law enforcement officer.

Barber was identified as the person who stole a cell phone Aug. 18 from the Chick-Fil-A and was charged with simple assault and theft by conversion, both misdemeanors, in that incident. Barber was booked into the DeKalb County Jail.

Previous Patch reports identified Barber as a suspect who was arrested in a May 23 altercation that occurred at the library. Barber was stabbed in that incident, Patch reported. The disposition of that case is not known.

Here’s a police department synopsis of the two incidents supplied by Assistant Chief Keith Lee:

The following is a synopsis of the two incidents which occurred at Chik-Fil-A restaurant during the past two weeks.

Incident #1

                  On August 18, 2011 a 14 year old Decatur resident was inside the restaurant when he was approached by another male.  The unidentified male asked to borrow the victim’s cellular telephone.  The victim voluntarily allowed the suspect to use his cellular telephone.  Instead of using the telephone and returning it to the victim, the suspect left the restaurant with the telephone.  The victim followed the suspect to retrieve his property.  The suspect then verbally threatened the victim and the victim stopped following the suspect.  The suspect was last seen walking northbound on North McDonough Street in the company of another male.  Investigators were able to obtain photographs of the suspects from surveillance cameras.

Incident #2

On August 24, 2011, Decatur Police responded to a reported fight at the Chik-Fil-A restaurant.  A 37 year old patron advised he was sitting in the dining area, when an unidentified suspect walked by his table and grabbed his cellular telephone, which was lying on the table.  The victim tried to stop the suspect and a physical altercation ensued.  At that time several other unidentified males assaulted the victim.  The suspects then fled the area on foot.  Responding officers located the main suspect near the Decatur library and after a brief foot chase, took him into custody.  The victim was brought to the arrest location and positively identified the suspect, Taurus Barber (age 19) as his assailant.

After the arrest of Barber, Decatur Police investigators reviewed the photographs from Incident # I and identified Barber as the suspect in that incident.  Warrants were obtained for Barber for incident #1.

Taurus Barber was booked into the DeKalb County Jail for the following offenses:

Incident #1

                  Theft by Conversion (misd)       

                  Simple Assault          (misd)            

Incident #2

                  Robbery (felony)                               

                  Battery                  (misd)                   

                  Obstruction of a Law Enforcement Officer (misd)