ATLANTA — Atlanta Police have a suspect in custody after they said he went on a "brazen" one-man crime spree that included carjackings - moments apart from one another - and multiple attempted armed robberies.
The alleged crimes spanned across the southeastern quadrant of the city Wednesday, all in broad daylight and all before noon.
Atlanta Police Sgt. John Chafee said it all began around 10:13 a.m., when officers responded to the first reported carjacking at 652 Fraser St. after they said an AT&T van was stolen.
Minutes later, Chafee said they got reports of a second carjacking at the intersection of Milledge and Cherokee avenues, where the suspect allegedly carjacked a Nissan Pathfinder. Police said the driver of the SUV was still in the car with the suspect, before they were put out at 741 Memorial Dr. at 10:26 a.m.
Chafee said the suspect then got to Moreland Avenue and Memorial Drive where police said he carjacked a third car - a white Volvo SUV - at 10:28 a.m.
But Chafee said the suspect's alleged crime spree didn't stop there. He said the suspect tried to rob two more people in two different areas - firing off several shots in one of the cases - before pulling up next to a woman near the intersection of Moreland and Custer avenues. It was there that the suspect allegedly tried to force her into the car with him at gunpoint. Police said she refused and ran away.
At that point, Chafee said the man got onto the interstate and headed north, still in the Volvo, but police and air units began to follow him. Police said the suspect got to the area of Roswell Road in Cobb County before he was stopped by Georgia State Patrol around 11:20 a.m. - just about an hour after the alleged crime spree began - and taken into custody.
"This all happened very, very quickly," Chafee told media outside Atlanta Public Safety Headquarters Wednesday, adding that while police are glad to have the man "off the street," they're still trying to work out how - and why - this all happened.
"It's a little bit bizarre as to why he would be doing something like this," Chafee said.
Through all this, Chafee said no victims were hurt, but he said he's unsure what prompted the "brazen" string of crimes.
"I'm not exactly what would be going through someone's mind to make them do this," he said.
Wednesday's spree is just the latest in a string of violent crimes documented in the city over the last few weeks. Last weekend, police responded to more than 10 shootings that left more than a dozen people hurt.
Weeks ago, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms unveiled a plan to attack violent crime.
Crime numbers available for the first two month of 2021 show that murders, aggravated assault and car thefts - including carjackings - are all up compared with the same period last year.
- Murder: up 80%
- Aggravated Assault: up 47%
- Auto Theft: up 47%
So far, this month, Interim Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant and Mayor Bottoms have declined repeated requests from 11Alive for interviews.
Chafee said police are doing their best, but "it's hard to have police officer in every situation right there," he admitted.
However, he said that these particular acts are even more troubling.
"A crime like this is certainly concerning to us, and I think it points out some of the challenges that we face: how do you police something like this - where you have someone capable of and willing to do something like this?"
Chafee said police still have a lot of investigative work to do in this case, as the path of the suspect covered significant area - though it was all contained to a condensed piece of the southeast part of the city.
At this time, police said they are not releasing the suspect's identity, only that he is a 51-year-old man. Charges are pending, according to Chafee, but some will be in Fulton County, while others will be in DeKalb. He said police are in the process of securing those warrants.
The investigation continues.