Decatur Police Charge Two After Finding Stolen Pistol in Traffic Stop

This information comes from reports provided by the Decatur Police Department.

Police found a stolen pistol the night of Jan. 28 when they stopped a car on West Trinity Place.

An officer saw a Ford Taurus with a drive-out tag on the street and noticed the car's rear brake lights were not working. He stopped the car in front of the Decatur Housing Authority and saw the driver and passenger making furtive movements inside the car.

The driver, Danthony Carter of Ellenwood, had a suspended license and an outstanding warrant against him from Henry County for probation violation. A search revealed a small bag of marijuana in his pants pocket.

Because police smelled marijuana, officers removed the passenger, Devante Carter of Decatur, and searched the car. They found a Smith & Wesson nickel-plated 9mm handgun under the passenger seat with one spent round and 14 live rounds in the magazine.

One serial number had been filed down, but another serial number on the weapon was discovered. A check proved the pistol was reported stolen by Atlanta police.

Both men denied owning the gun. Police also found another drive-out tag inside the car.

Devante Carter was charged with theft by receiving stolen property and possession of a firearm with an altered serial number.

Danthony Carter was also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, theft by receiving stolen property-firearm, possession of firearm with an altered serial number, possession of marijuana, suspended license, suspended registration, inoperable brake light and no insurance.

Both men were booked into the DeKalb County Jail.

Demetrious George of Stone Mountain was charged with theft by taking for allegedly stealing two photographs worth $200 each from the Decatur Library.

A security guard at the library called police the morning of Jan. 28 and reported the photos had been stolen Jan. 27. He showed police a security video of a man taking the photos off the wall.

The guard recognized the man as a regular patron but didn't know his name. A few hours after contacting police, the guard called again to say he had located the suspect.

According to the report, "George was asked about the missing photographs and admitted to removing them from the wall.  George advised he removed the photographs to 'draw pictures of them.'  George advised that when the library was closing he 'stashed' the paintings near the rear entrance.  George later admitted to taking the two photographs from the library and that they were currently at his residence."

He was charged with theft by taking. In the process of taking him into custody, suspected marijuana was found in his pocket and he was charged with possession.

A real estate agent reported that $8,000 in copper piping had been stolen from a house he was selling.

The agent said his wife was walking about 11:30 a.m. Jan. 29 and noticed a silver Volkswagen parked in the driveway of the house in the 1300 block of Scott Boulevard. The agent didn't have time to check the house himself until the afternoon of Jan. 30.

He noticed a water faucet outside the house upside down. When he grabbed the faucet he was able to pull it from the outside wall. He entered the crawl space and discovered the copper piping missing.

A 1987 Cadillac was reported stolen Jan. 30 from the DeKalb County parking garage on West Trinity Place. The owner said he parked about 9 a.m. that day and returned about 4:30 p.m. to find the car missing. He had the only key.

A woman told police the morning of Feb. 1 that some things were taken from her purse while she was at Starbucks on East Court Square.

She placed her purse underneath a table and noticed it missing about 11 a.m.  An employee went into the restroom and found the purse next to a trash can. An iPad worth $700 was still inside the purse, but two debit cards, a check book and a driver's license were missing.

A juvenile reported Jan 28 that an iPhone and other items were stolen from her purse the YMCA. She said the purse was left in a locker but the iPhone, a wallet with a $100 gift card and her driver's license were missing.