A snatch-and-grab at The Avenue in Peachtree City around noon April 25 was thwarted by the quick action of many concerned citizens who witnessed it as well as the police who responded, saving a retailer the loss of thousands of dollars in merchandise.
A gang of four men backed their car into a parking space directly in front of the LuluLemon store, according to Peachtree City Police Lt. Chris Hyatt. Three of them then got out of the car and walked into the store, where they “just snatched up armfulls of stuff and bolted out the door,” Hyatt said.
A number of citizens at the scene sprang into action, calling police and also taking pictures with their phones to get descriptions of the suspects. One person submitted a photo of the getaway car’s license plate, and police were quickly able to determine that the plate did not fit the car and was stolen.
“We assumed they’d pull over somewhere to switch out tags, which they did,” said Hyatt.
An officer was able to get behind the car near the intersection of Hwys. 54 and 74. The suspects tried to shake that tail in the nearby parking lot of Pike Nursery, but they wound up getting blocked in there and were apprehended.
The four men arrested were: Bayo Allen, 19, of Atlanta; Quintavious Gooch, 19, of Stone Mountain; Nicholas Lynch, 25, of Mableton; and Braylon Shivers, 19, of Atlanta.
Each of them faces a felony count of theft by shoplifting as well as a misdemeanor charge of theft by receiving stolen property. All of them will also have an additional charge of using a stolen license plate, “since they all used it to cover their tracks,” as Hyatt put it.
Police were able to recover about $7,000 worth of merchandise taken from the store, he added.
But the store itself did not provide any assistance on the day of the robbery. Hyatt said the department received video of the incident from LuluLemon corporate officials the following evening, and it took some urging on the part of police to get that.
“Typically their corporate policy is that they don’t intervene or cooperate, and I was finally able to convince them that they need to,” said Hyatt.
This is not unusual with large retail corporations. Hyatt related that another major company resisted giving such cooperation regarding a previous incident until police threatened to charge them with reckless conduct.
Fortunately, the general public was a huge help in this case.
“All of our complaints came from citizens on this one,” said Hyatt.
I hope D. A. Boder will prosecute this to its fullest to send a message to these organized theft rings that endanger the lives and the peace of those that live in our community to show that this is not California and will not be tolerated.
It is also sad to see the reluctance of corporations to cooperate with authorities in prosecuting these crimes. As such they are liable for endangering their staff, and the public by their failings by creating a safe zone for thieves. They took no qualms into firing the employees in Peachtree Corners for telling the thieves to stop and get out of the store. They should have fired those responsible for hesitating to turn over evidence and making the corporate policy discouraging police involvement and prosecution. The people they fired had witnessed this at their store multiple times. Failing to do anything about these robberies only makes an open invitation to criminals to continue.
Further, Georgia law needs to treat these organized theft rings like those covered under RICO and make these crimes punishment unpalatable to the criminal. Californians treat these like victimless crimes, but they affect us all, and how we feel and participate in our community with our neighbors.
I’d like to heartfully thank the PTC police for their quick response enabling the capture of these criminals, and persistence in getting the evidence. Hopefully this sends a message to the gangs of Atlanta to stay away.
Lastly, these kids need to be learning a trade, and not thievery that seems to be far more lucrative. Where are their parents? This is why we need communities and family and not cities.
If you’re an employee of this retailer and report the crime to police they’ll terminate you. As reported on other local TV news outlets. (eyes rolling)
They have a cute little woke sign behind the checkout area about not tolerating hate, mean talk and Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head….but nothing about shoplifting.
Everyone should make it clear to Lululemon that they will NOT support a store who does not cooperate with authorities in a case like this.
Why do you thing their prices are so high? You’re paying for their lack of courage.
I’m sure they were only trying to raise money to attend trade school.
Ridiculous that the retailer didn’t want to cooperate. I know one place I won’t be frequenting..
I was thinking the same thing!
Everyone in PTC should be willing to step up like these good citizens…let the criminals know we protect our merchants and will hunt down vermin who come here to do crime.
High Fives to the people who assisted our police officers, and to the officers who chased these 4 down.
We have to recognize how fortunate we are to have a citizenry and law enforcement who act against crime. Just look at California, and the reaction of the store that got robbed, to see what happens when thieves take over.
Now let’s see if we have a prosecutor who does his / her job.
Don’t worry MyCatBill…our DA is tough as nails…these boys will probably go away for a while in the state system.
The trial should be short. I wonder if they’ll plea for a lesser charge/sentence.