Gwinnett police recently responded to two separate incidents involving reported armed robberies outside the Mall of Georgia.
On March, 10, a shopper reported that upon exiting the mall through the lower Belk entrance, he and a friend were accosted by six to seven black males who pulled up in two vehicles and brandished handguns before demanding the victim hand over his bags. The victim told police his friend ran away, possibly back into the Belk store, but the victim was unable to flee before the suspects knocked him to the ground and began beating him and kicking him. One suspect even smashed a beer bottle over his head. The police officer who responded to the call noted scrapes on the victim’s arms and legs, as well as a small laceration on his head.
The victim said the suspects took a $300 Gucci bag containing $1,304 in cash, a $1,200 MacBook and $45 worth of gold chains purchased from the mall that day.
While speaking with the responding officer, the victim attempted to call the friend who fled, but the call went to voicemail. The victim also called another friend, who gave the officer a description of what the suspects were wearing. After reviewing body camera footage the officer realized the victim had told him the second friend who provided the descriptions had left before the incident occurred.
The responding officer asked Belk employees to submit any security footage of the incident.
In a separate incident, on March 13, a man reported he was the victim of an armed robbery.
The victim said he was shopping for shoes in Dillard’s when a Latino/Dominican male suspect approached him. After speaking for a few minutes, the suspect asked the victim to hang out and go for a ride in his car, a plan to which the victim agreed. After getting into a vehicle, the suspect became suspicious and asked to be taken back to the mall. Instead, the suspect drove to the lower parking deck at JCPenney, where he pulled a handgun. The victim gave the suspect about $160 in cash before exiting the vehicle unharmed.
Mall security was asked to review any possible video footage of the encounter.
