inDECATUR

Fellini's and Subway robberies might be linked

The next day after Fellini's was robbed, gunmen robbed a Subway restaurant on North Druid Hills.  That restaurant was also robbed during the dinner hour.

Investigators think the robberies might be linked.

Fox 5 | 12/6/2008

Silver pistols and hankerchefs for masks were used in both robberies, according to the Ch. 5 TV report this AM.

At least they're robbed residents of another state, not us

Police have arrested a second man suspected of robbing two New Yorkers at the Oceanfront in July.

Adil Muhammad, 20, of Decatur, Ga., was arrested Wednesday in Georgia and returned to Virginia Beach, where he is being held without bond on robbery, firearm and conspiracy charges. He and Demario Flowers, 20, also of Decatur, Ga., are accused of robbing the tourists of $246 and debit cards at gunpoint late on July 27 near 26th Street and Pacific Avenue, police spokesman Adam Bernstein said.

Flowers was arrested Sept. 10 and posted bond on Sept. 22. He also has been charged in an invasion-style robbery at the Oceanfront Days Inn, Bernstein said.

Investigators believe that four hours after the street robbery of the two New Yorkers, Flowers and two other men burst into a hotel room and robbed two men at gunpoint, Bernstein said. The investigation into that case is still under way. Muhammad has not been charged in that case.

Pilot Online

Fugitive arrested on Church St. near Glenlake entrance

Sheila asked:

"Hey Dave: Any intel on the GBI/FBI action on Church street yesterday evening around 6:00? It looked like a stakeout to me. Several big black unmarked cars arrived and left together, Decatur police on the side. Just south of Glenlake park. Neighbor heard the words "parole violation" but no other hints. Must've been a big one!"

That explains this I'd found earlier this AM in the guest sign-in list of the DeKalb County Hotel:

Anybody know him?

You just never know who's hanging around our fair little city, so be careful around strangers and learn as much as you can about your neighbors, without being too nosey.

We don't know what he was running from. That will take more digging. He may or may not have been dangerous.

Thanks much to Sheila for e-mailing the tip. If you see anything out of the ordinary in Decatur, please e-mail dav3kell@gmail.com. Combining pieces of "intel" might give us the whole story.

 

Metro Decatur man killed in NYC

Responding to a 911 call of gunfire on Park Avenue near Broadway at the Sumner Houses shortly before 10 p.m., cops found Keith Washington, 31, with several gunshot wounds to the chest and stomach.

  He died at Woodhull Hospital. Detectives recovered .32-caliber shell casings at the scene.

  Washington, who lived in Decatur, Ga., had been in town visiting relatives.

NY POST

Experts consider the .32 caliber only marginally adequate for self defense.

Website set up for missing couple

A lot has happened in the six months since John and Liz Calvert of Brookhaven vanished from Hilton Head Island, S.C.

The last person known to have seen them alive killed himself. A sheriff’s deputy found the couple’s car. Searchers combed the Carolina low country, the Atlantic Ocean and a South Georgia landfill.

What hasn’t happened is an answer to the question behind those prayers: What happened to the couple, a well-off pair who, friends say, loved the outdoors and never met a stranger?

The couple’s only known relative is Elizabeth Calvert’s brother, David White of Decatur, who originally reported the couple missing. He has refused multiple interview requests.

Family, friends and investigators hope new attention to the case will provide answers. The family has set up a Web site (www.calvertrewardfund.com) where an anonymous donor is offering $25,000 reward for information “leading directly to the whereabouts and safe return of Liz and John, or the arrest and conviction of the individual (s) responsible for their disappearance.”

In addition, friends are holding a $75-per-person “cruise for the Calverts” to raise money for the fund.

Candler Brown | AJC | 9/3/2008

Decatur's finest at work

I didn't notice it until I snapped the photo, but our Deputy City Manager, Hugh Saxon, was there, watching the filming of video questions for the Obama campaign.

This blogger's Raleigh c200 hybrid bike (which is mostly black with some silver) looks similar to that bike (at least to a casual bike observer). It even has a similar rack and bag on the back.

Just when we felt safe to go back in the water ...

... we now have a jalapeno scare.

Kroger Co. spokeswoman Meghan Glynn said Thursday it decided to halt jalapeno sales after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported Monday that a McAllen, Texas, distributor was recalling jalapenos because they had the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. She said Kroger removed jalapenos the next day, even though none of its supply was from the Texas distributor.

"It's a precautionary measure," she said.

Glynn said Kroger had received no complaints from customers suspecting jalapenos made them ill.

On Monday, the Texas-based grocery chain H-E-B announced a voluntary recall of products containing fresh jalapenos after government inspectors found a strain of salmonella on a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper handled in Texas.

DS | AP | 1:15P Th 7/24/2008

Like the tomato scare before it, this is devastating to farmers.

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin thinks Georgia-grown jalapeños are probably safe to eat and hopes they can be put back on store shelves soon.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says jalapeños that passed through a distribution center in McAllen, Texas may be to blame for a salmonella outbreak.

The agency says raw jalapeño and Serrano peppers should not be sold or served, and should be discarded.

Irvin says he thinks the FDA is overreacting and has sent agriculture department staffers to collect samples from Georgia farms.

He says if tests show the peppers are safe, he will ask Georgia supermarkets to resume selling them.

A spokesman for Irvin says the results should be available by Monday.

WCTV

Is paranoia striking?

DeKalb Police to purchase "Sky Watch Tactical Platform'

At Tuesday's DeKalb Commissioner's meeting, Terrell Bolton, Chief of Police, requested $145.4K for a scissor lift platform (similar to this one) which will enable 3 cops to observe crowds or situations from 25 feet off the ground in an enclosed unit.

To pull this 10K pound unit, which is mounted an a fifth-wheel trailer, Chief Bolton requested a $36.4K 2009 4x4 Chevy Silverado 3500HD truck with goose-neck bed ball in the bed.

Both of these items will be funded by the FY 2006 Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) approved by the Board of Commissioners on 4/8/2008.

This blogger had to leave the meeting before this item came up, but it is assumed it was approved.

DeKalb Officers is of the opinion money would be better spent on higher pay and improved vests than for tech toys like this and the $300K RVs. But, if you were the police chief, and you read in the latest cop rag that other units had these things, wouldn't you want one?

Speaking as an ex-Airborne officer, I would not want to be in that thing if a riot broke out, even if it's armored with bullet-proof glass (as it probably is). You'd be a sitting duck in a high-profile place up there, and the bad guys might have high-powered weapons which can penetrate the armor.

Kid Rock's Waffle House scuffle caught on tape

The AJC has the video, obtained from the DeKalb County Police.

Nine months after his arrest in DeKalb County on battery charges tied to a Waffle House brawl, hick-hopper Kid Rock has pleaded no contest to one count of battery in DeKalb County State Court, putting the whole covered and smothered saga behind him.

The performer legally known as Robert J. Ritchie was sentenced to 12 months of probation, six hours of anger management counseling and 80 hours of community service. The musician was fined $1000, plus $300 in court costs. Four other counts of battery were dropped.

Last October, the performer, his band members and tour crew were eating at a Buford Highway Waffle House after a sold-out show at the Tabernacle downtown when the group got into an altercation with fellow diner Harlem DeJon Akins. A fight spilled into the parking lot and an expensive plate glass window was broken.

RLE | AJC | 7/21/2008

Five boutique bandits caught

Atlanta police on Tuesday announced the arrests of five so-called Blue Jean bandits, including those believed responsible for two of the most violent heists to date.

The five suspects are accused of pulling off a robbery June 4 at the Brazil Fine Italian Clothing at 1831 Peachtree Rd. During the incident, two female clerks were punched and pepper sprayed. [An hour later, they hit the Kaleidoscope on W. Ponce in Decatur.]

Detectives said they have been working quietly behind the scenes for several weeks to try and figure out who was behind the violent robberies. They said surveillance video taken at another boutique [that would be Kaleidoscope -- the owner Camille was interviewed on the news Tuesday at 5P] the same day the Brazil Fine Italian Clothing was robbed was important evidence that led to a number of helpful tip calls. As a result, police arrested three juveniles and two adults believed responsible for both thefts June 4.

Another suspect in the case was arrested after an attempted break-in at a North Georgia outlet mall in Dawson County.

"We're working as hard as we can to put as many of these guys in jail to curtail the activity and I'm happy to say within the past four weeks it's been very quiet, and I'm happy to say that," said Detective Rick Anderson.

One suspect, Charles Dunn, is still being sought. Police said this group of bandits consider themselves modern-day Robin Hoods because they steal the high-priced jeans and sell them on the streets for much less.

11Alive