Gwinnett Police Arrest Burglary Suspect

A rape investigation led to the arrest.

An investigation into an alleged rape led Gwinnett County Police to a suspect in a string of convenience store burglaries. Police were called to a Sardis Drive residence on Jan. 27 to investigate a report of a suspicious woman. The woman claimed she had been raped by an acquaintance of hers at the home of Douglas McDaniel, 43. (Click here for related story) McDaniel had reportedly given the woman and her accused rapist a ride to his Buford home in a white Chrysler Town and Country minivan that matched the description of a vehicle used in several Buford burglaries. McDaniel was not arrested at the time of the rape investigation, but the information about McDaniel and his vehicle was forwarded to detectives who made the arrest the following …

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Burglars Break Into Chevron, Get Away With Coin Rolls

Inside the Police Reports: The incident occurred off Beaver Ruin Road in the city of Norcross early one Tuesday.

Police say burglars broke into a Norcross Chevron gas station but only stole rolls of quarters earlier this month. According to the Norcross Police report, the incident occurred around 3:37 a.m. Oct. 9 at the 2394 Beaver Ruin Rd. business. Officers found the rear door of the business pried open, and holes in the fences of the neighboring businesses, including a daycare center. A police dog followed the scent of the suspects through these holes but then lost the the trail when it hit the Robinwood Apartments complex. After the manager arrived, he told police that the cash registers had been pulled out and the box that contained all the change is gone. The only cash missing were rolls of quarters. On the K9 trail, officers found a carboard …

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Woman Caught With Stolen Items Outside Norcross Burglary

Inside the Police Reports: Gwinnett police only charged her with theft by receiving.

A woman was arrested for theft by receiving in the Norcross area after police found her in a car parked outside a residential burglary with stolen items from the home. According to the Gwinnett County Police report, an officer responded to the incident, as reported by a neighbor, on the 1500 block of Silver Lake Drive near Singleton Road on a Wednesday night this month.  The complainant said two men emerged from the back of the home with many items and got inside a white passenger car. The suspects then fled toward Singleton Road, according to the caller, but the car returned.  The officer saw an occupied white Toyota Camry that had its lights off near the burglarized home. He spoke with the driver, a 28-year-old Gwinnett woman, who was …

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Mojitos Restaurant Reports Cash Taken in Burglary

Inside the Police Reports: The incident at the Norcross business took place Sunday night last week.

The owner of the popular Norcross restaurant Mojitos reported a burglary took place in the business last week. According to the Norcross Police report, the incident occurred the evening of Sunday, Oct. 7. The owner received a text around 7:30 p.m. from his brother, whom he left to close up the business for the day, about some cash that was inside the restaurant. The cash needed to be picked up and deposited, so the owner went to the 35 Peachtree St. business at 9:30 p.m. He told police that he found the back French doors unlocked and most of the cash gone, according to the report. The owner said nothing else seemed to be taken. The brother assured all doors had been locked before he left. Police saw a Stanley 5-in-1 scrape tool sitting on …

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Gwinnett Police Investigate Burglaries of Elderly

Gwinnett County Police are cautioning elderly people to be on the lookout for criminals who distract the homeowner and then commit burglary.

  The Gwinnett County Police Department is investigating a series of burglaries targeting elderly people.   According to a Gwinnett County PD press release:  So far in 2012, Gwinnett has had seven incidents believed to be connected. Several other metro-Atlanta agencies are investigating similar cases. At this time, Gwinnett is linking 11 total cases to the series.  The suspects in these cases target elderly victims, usually women, whom they believe are home alone. One of the suspects, usually described as a Hispanic or Slavic male of average height and weight, approaches the victim for a seemingly legitimate reason. This suspect is polite and dressed in a manner appropriate to his story. A common approach has been for the suspect to tell …

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Police Catch Alleged Commercial Burglar

A man allegedly sold stolen commercial batteries, copper wire and more from businesses in Norcross and the surrounding areas.

Gwinnett County Police have arrested a man who allegedly sold stolen commercial batteries, copper wire, brass sieves, and a laptop from Norcross and the surrounding areas since March. Nathaniel Houston, 29, was arrested April 30 and charged with three counts of burglary, one count of entering an automobile, and one count of theft by deception, according to a press release by Gwinntt County spokesman Cpl. Jake Smith. In March, copper wire and brass sieves were reported stolen from Metro Materials and Humphries Building Supply in Doraville. Used for inspecting asphalt samples, the brass sieves were uncommon, and Metal Theft Unit detectives located them at JB's Recycling in DeKalb County. Houston is believed to have sold it to them. Further …

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Homeowner Outwits Burglar

Police say they identified a suspect after he logged onto Facebook in another home.

An area woman pulled into her house Tuesday morning to find a strange car running in the driveway. When she peeked inside, she spotted a burglar. The woman thought fast, taking the keys and a wallet from the running vehicle, then staking out her house from down the street. She called the police as she watched the man load items from her home into his car. Once he realized that the keys were gone, he took off on foot, according to a Gwinnett County Police release. Officers responded to her call on the 4900 block of Riverlake Drive in Peachtree Corners and conducted a search of the area on the ground and with a helicopter, but the suspect was not found. At 3:30 p.m. the same day, another house about 1000 yards away reported a break-in. A …

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Inside the Police Blotter

Rash of Business Break-ins on Oakbrook Pkwy

Four Norcross businesses reported burglaries on the same night.

Four Norcross businesses within a mile radius reported burglaries during the evening hours of Nov. 9 and the morning after. Two of the businesses reported nothing stolen, while the other two reported that electronics were taken. Advanced Furniture Services, located at 5870 Oakrbook Parkway, said its HP laptop was stolen from its front office during the burglary. According to the police report, the laptop was worth $400, and suspect(s) gained entry to the business by prying open the front door. The other business with stolen goods was American Citadel Guard Inc., located at 6030 Unity Dr., Suite G. After finding the front door unlocked, the owner said the business' black IBM ThinkPad had been taken. The fireproof safe was damaged, too, and …

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Car Broken Into at Thrasher Park

Window smashed at the local park, leading to stolen purse and four fraudulent credit card charges.

Linda Perez’ nanny and daughter were playing at Thrasher Park on Monday morning. When they returned to the nanny’s car, they found the window busted and her purse taken from under the seat. The nanny had four fraudulent charges on her credit card, totaling $1500, that they reported to the police. Perez said that her nanny spoke to another person who frequently visits the park in the morning, who reported a similar break-in last month.  They shared the location of the four fraudulent charges with the Norcross PD, hoping that they could zero in on the person through video footage at the stores—but nothing has come up yet. Perez said she’s disappointed with the Norcross Police Department’s response to the incident. “I would also like to see …

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Local Tavern Burglarized

Safe stolen from Historic Norcross watering hole late Sunday night or early Monday morning.

Someone apparently broke into the Iron Horse Tavern in the historic downtown area, managing to make out with the safe, according to police. Cpt. Brian Harr of the Norcross Police Dept. said that someone apparently entered the bar between the hours of midnight on Aug. 14 and 9 a.m. on Aug. 15.  Harr said he believes that more than one person was involved in the break-in, since it appears that they carried the safe out of the bar instead of dragging it. Parts of the wooden fence around the Iron Horse patio were broken, perhaps to shimmy the safe though. “We’re currently going through physical evidence,” said Harr, adding that there are no specific leads at this time. “With this, we’ll look at a lot of different angles,” he added. The bar …

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