Decatur Police Issue Community Advisory on Robberies

On Monday morning, Decatur City Hall issued this "updated community advisory" on the spate of robberies that have occurred in the city.

The advisory said the police department has scheduled more than 200 hours of overtime in the last two months and that the Wahoo! Grill robbery does not appear related to other robberies.

Police report that seven robberies have occurred since Feb. 7, including the after-hours armed robbery of the Wahoo! Grill and four women approached on the street by men with pistols. A woman sitting in an ATM drive-through said a man with a pistol approached her and a woman reported that her iPhone was snatched off a restaurant table.

The Decatur City Commission is expected to talk about the crime problem during a meeting that starts at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

Here's the information sent out Monday morning:

The City of Decatur Police Department is working diligently to solve the recent cell phone robberies and the Wahoo Grill robbery while at the same time putting together various details involving the officers, detectives and command staff members to try and prevent further incidents.

The Decatur Police Department encourages everyone to be aware of their surroundings and to limit distractions such as talking on cell phones or using earbuds and to secure items such as cellphones, wallets and purses in order to prevent thefts.

At the April 8 Oakhurst Neighborhood Association meeting Chief Booker said, “We are following up on leads as they develop, have done sketches for the ones where the victim was able to give us a good description, have instituted specific activities designed to prevent future problems, including scheduling approximately 200 hours of overtime in addition to regular shifts to make every effort to locate and prosecute the perpetrators. 

Please know that these robberies are currently our number one concern and that no one wants this spree to end more than we do as a police department.”       

Chief Booker added that the robbery at Wahoo Grill occurred after the business had closed and the victims were all employees.  He said, “We are following leads and working diligently in our efforts to solve that case.  The manner in which the robbery occurred looked well-planned and was carried out without much being said by the perpetrators and we do not feel that the Wahoo robbery is related to the other pedestrian robberies.”  

The Police Department sent immediate information to the City’s retail and restaurant establishments in an effort to encourage awareness among business owners and employees.

The City of Decatur Police Department encourages anyone with information about the pedestrian cell phone robberies and the Wahoo robbery to contact them at 404-373-6551.