ATLANTA — A robbery suspect is in custody thanks to the help of good citizens who jumped into action to restrain him until police could handcuff him.
It unfolded Sept. 29 off the popular BeltLine near Inman Park.
According to an Atlanta Police report, police dispatched an officer after getting a report of robbery off Montag Circle NE. As the officer ran up to the scene, the report said several people were holding the suspect, Timothy Sherod, down on the ground, preventing him from escaping.
The report said the victim's Lyft ride had just arrived to where she was waiting, and when she went to open the door, Sherod grabbed her from behind and lifted her off the ground, swinging her around and pulling on her purse.
Once Sherod had the purse, the report said he threw the victim to the ground and ran off toward the BeltLine.
The report said two witnesses heard the victim scream and saw Sherod wrestling the purse away from the victim. Once they saw him head toward the trail, one of the witnesses chased him because, the report said, Sherod "wasn't running very fast."
The witness was able to catch up to Sherod and grabbed him. The second witness got there moments later and helped keep Sherod on the ground until police arrived.
Body camera video from the officer shows the moment Sherod was handcuffed.
"I didn't take anything" Sherod said, as the officer puts the cuffs around his wrists.
"You didn't take anything," the officer asks.
"No! I didn't take anything! This is my phone! I lost my wallet!" Sherod says.
"Please, bro. I didn't take nothing," Sherod adds, pleading with the officer. "I don't have anything. I lost my wallet. My wallet had my ID in it, sir. It was in my right pocket."
But one of the apparent witnesses can be heard off screen telling the officer she saw everything.
"She's standing right over there. She's very shaken up," she tells the officer, referring to the victim. "I saw him take (the purse) as I was walking out. Her purse is over there."
Police arrested Sherod and, after finding the victim's purse holding her cell phone, keys and credit cards, they took him to jail.
Sherod, meanwhile, has been charged with robbery by force.
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