Fayette‘s eyes on crime bust 5 suspects in 2 stolen vehicles

The Flock Safety license plate reader cameras installed on roadways around the county by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office are paying off in arrests and investigative leads.

The cameras on Sept. 16 helped officers catch three juveniles in a vehicle stolen in an Atlanta carjacking, identify a stolen vehicle that resulted in two arrests and identify a vehicle involved in an entering auto.

Sheriff Barry Babb said the Flock Safety license plate reader camera system on Sept. 16 at 2:41 p.m. alerted on a vehicle stolen during a carjacking in Atlanta the day before.

Identified in the area of Ga. Highway 314 and New Hope Road, deputies located the vehicle on Hwy. 314 and pursued it. The vehicle struck another car and wrecked along Ga. Highway 85 near Promenade Parkway, Babb said, noting that there were no injuries.

Three juveniles in the stolen vehicle fled on foot but were quickly apprehended. One of the juveniles was 16 years old, with the other two aged 15, said Babb.

Two of the juveniles were from Atlanta, and the third from College Park. During the investigation, one of the juveniles admitted being involved in the carjacking, and another was wearing an ankle monitor registered to Atlanta law enforcement, Babb said.

Babb thanked Fayetteville police for their assistance in the incident, adding that Atlanta detectives arrived and took the three juveniles into custody.

In another incident also on Sept. 16, a Flock camera in the Fayette Pavilion area detected a stolen vehicle. Babb said the sheriff’s crime suppression unit located the vehicle and engaged it in a short pursuit during which time the vehicle wrecked on Pavilion Parkway and two men fled on foot.

Babb said deputies, Fayetteville police and the Clayton County COBRA unit responded. One of the men was caught in the Walmart parking lot and the other was apprehended in the Publix grocery store. Babb noted that a citizen at Publix assisted in apprehending the man by “slowing him down” as officers closed in.

Arrested on numerous charges such as theft by receiving, fleeing and eluding, reckless driving and shoplifting were 27-year-old Barnesville resident Brandon J. Wyche and 38-year-old Jonathan R. Brown, of Memphis, Tenn.

In a third incident, the camera picked up a vehicle involved in an entering auto at the QuikTrip on Hwy. 85 North.

Babb said a man described as a black male entered a woman’s car while she was pumping gas and stole her purse.

The man fled in a gold BMW SUV, and his vehicle was identified by the camera system, Babb said.

Detectives are investigating the incident.