Atlanta Police arrested two, suspected serial criminals Monday and, with them off the streets, police said the city’s crime rate decreased.
The two men are suspected of breaking into cars repeatedly - in Buckhead and other parts of Atlanta - and stealing whatever they wanted from inside the cars.
“We think that these two are going to be responsible for dozens and dozens of crimes just in the Buckhead space,” said APD Deputy Chief Jeffrey Glazier.
Glazier said the men were getting away with it for weeks.
Atlanta police knew the men drove a black, Chevy Impala. On Monday, APD’s Field Investigation Team spotted the two men, and their car, on Peachtree Battle Avenue near Northside Drive.
Body cam video shows the officers approaching the two men as they were changing a flat tire. Just as officers were beginning to arrest the men, the men were able to run away. Body camera video shows officers running after them. At first, police lost them, but soon found them with the help of a helicopter. One man was hiding behind a house. The other was in a creek.
“We’re already seeing a slow-down this week in the total numbers of crimes, just because of their arrests,” Dep. Chief Glazier said Tuesday.
The suspects, both 28 years old, are friends and roommates whose address, police said, is on Hollywood Road NW.
Authorities said Terry Kelley was on probation in connection with a murder case in Cobb County and had several arrests for other crimes, including theft.
Nicholas Johnson is also a convicted felon and police said he was already on the run prior to his arrest on Monday—a fugitive wanted for earlier car break-ins in Atlanta.
Police said when they arrested Kelley, he was wearing an ankle monitor because of his probation, and the ankle monitor’s tracking system placed Kelley at many of the crime scenes. That, police said, ultimately helped them find him and Johnson on Monday.
Police said they found evidence inside the suspects’ car tied to some of the crimes, including two guns stolen from cars that police say the men had broken into.
“And if you believe that a small percentage of people are responsible for a large percentage of the crimes,” Glazier said, “then if we can capture these crews, it really takes a dent into the overall numbers.”