Police Investigate Grab-And-Run Thefts From Decatur Businesses

The following information comes from Decatur Police Department reports.

Decatur police investigated thefts from two downtown businesses – the Subway on East Ponce de Leon Avenue and Burnt Fork Barbecue on Church Street.

 Two males and a female, all appearing to be about 16 years old, entered the Subway about 10:50 a.m. Dec. 18. One of the youths grabbed a plastic container containing parking tokens off the counter and ran out the door.

 A short time later, police detained four suspects in the 400 block of Church Street. The man who reported the theft identified two suspects -- a female juvenile and an adult man.

The juvenile was turned over to her mother and the man was charged with theft by taking and booked into the DeKalb County Jail.

The stolen tokens were found inside a trash can in front of the Decatur Diner.

The theft at the Burnt Fork Barbecue occurred shortly before 8 p.m. Dec. 15 when a slender black man entered and looked over a menu. The man suddenly snatched about $15 in loose bills from a tip jar and ran out of the store eastbound on Commerce Drive. He was not apprehended.

Decatur police arrested one adult and two juveniles in the Dec. 19 burglary of a residence on Sycamore Square.

The resident said he left about 2:45 p.m. and returned about 6:45 p.m. to discover the house had been burglarized. A windowpane in the rear door had been broken and the door was unlocked.

Reported stolen were Christmas presents and electronics, including Nintendo Playstations, a Wii gaming system, a laptop computer and headphones.

The name of the adult arrested was not immediately available.

A man tried to break into the Brick Store Pub at 125 E. Court Square the morning of Dec. 15.

Police were called to the pub about 7:15 a.m. An employee said he was cleaning inside when he heard the sound of breaking glass. The employee walked toward the sound and saw a black male striking a window with an unknown object.

The employee said the man saw him, ran and tried to grab a white bicycle that was secured to a bike rack in front. The man grabbed a second bicycle and was seen riding north on Church Street.

The bike was later found in the 700 block of Commerce Drive. The suspect was described as about 40 years old, 6 feet tall and weighing 175-185 pounds. He was wearing a black hat, black jacket and dark jeans.

A woman told police Dec. 15 that her iPad and some jewelry went missing while she was moving from the 2200 block of East Lake Drive to the 200 block of Wilton Drive.

She told officers she placed her iPad worth $829 and a bracelet worth $300 in a kitchen cabinet at her new residence. When the movers left about 4:30 p.m. she went to retrieve the items and could not find them.

Besides calling police, she reported the theft to the moving company.

A woman called from South Carolina to tell Decatur police her daughter, an Agnes Scott student, bought gasoline Dec. 14 at the Marathon station on East College Avenue and apparently drove away after leaving her wallet on the roof of the car.

The student’s debit card was used to make a $45.81 purchase at the King of Wigs in Atlanta and a $100 purchase at a gas station in Ellenwood.

The debit card has since been canceled. The wallet was described as about 3 by 6 inches, made of dark brown leather with a design of abstract people holding hands in a border along the outer edge.

A woman said her credit card was fraudulently used after her wallet was stolen Dec. 18 from All Souls Fellowship Church on East College Avenue.

The woman said she arrived at church about 7:30 a.m., left her purse unattended in a room and departed the church about 12:30 p.m. She said she searched for her wallet during the day.

Later, her husband told her somebody had charged about $500 in purchases to the card, which was quickly canceled.

A resident of the 200 block of Pinehurst Street told police his house was broken into Dec. 18 while he was gone about an hour and 15 minutes.

He came home about 7 p.m. to discover a rear kitchen window was broken and wide open. Some electronic gaming devices were missing and several gifts under the Christmas tree in the living room had been unwrapped.

Reported stolen were an two X-Boxes 360, a Playstation, a laptop computer, an assortment of Japanese food and candy and other items.

Police arrested two juveniles in the robbery of two brothers at the skate park on McKoy Street.

The brothers told police Dec. 13 that three juveniles approached them Dec. 9 and asked to buy marijuana. The brothers said they didn’t have any and one of the trio pulled out a pistol, racked the slide and said they were going to take what they wanted.

They took a skateboard and a wallet, both of which were found nearby. Only a debit card was missing.

The brothers told police they didn’t report the crime earlier because they didn’t want to be known as a snitch and were worried they’d get in trouble for selling drugs.

A bicycle was reported stolen from Blue Moon Designs at 418 Church Street. The store was entered through a back door the night of Dec. 14 or the morning of Dec. 15.