Fake Gun, Real Buckhead Armed Robberies: Police

Atlanta police say that a suspect who pulled off a pair of armed robberies in Buckhead last weekend was using a dummy weapon, but he and his accomplice are being charged as if they had used a real one.

Shawn Cooley and Ricky Thomas allegedly followed a woman to her home in the 2100 block of Belvedere Drive around 10 a.m. Sunday and used a ruse of a broken-down car to get her attention, at which point the victim said Cooley pulled out a gun covered in tape and demanded money from her.

The victim gave $21 in cash to Cooley but was allowed to keep her purse, according to a police report. The victim said she noticed a second suspect in the vehicle, but couldn’t describe him as he had his seat reclined.

Police received another armed robbery report at 10:48 a.m. This victim said she was getting out of her car to go to church on Defoor Avenue when someone pointed a gun in her face, according to WSB-TV. The victim surrendered her iPhone to the gunman.

The woman’s boyfriend was able to use his phone’s tracking app to pinpoint the location of the fliched phone, and police used that information to perform a vehicle stop just after 11 a.m. The victim in the earlier robbery was transported to the scene and positively identified Cooley as the gunman who held her up, the police report says.

Cooley, 22 has been charged with two counts of armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, Fulton County jail records show.

Jail records show that Thomas, 24 has been charged with aggravated assault with intent to rob, two counts of armed robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.