2 Held Suspected Shoplifter At Gunpoint With Replica: Marietta Cops

MARIETTA, GA — In what Marietta Police called "a bizarre turn of events," a store manager and his friend have been arrested after being accused of using a gun replica to hold a suspected shoplifter inside a store for more than 25 minutes.

Police on Thursday said they were first called to the Franklin Gateway liquor store around 6 p.m. Sunday.

Store manager Shivamkumar Patel, 31, of Smyrna, told law enforcement that a 32-year-old Acworth man previously shoplifted from the store and was currently inside the business, police said.

Both men were inside the store when officers arrived, and Patel asked they issue the man a criminal trespass warning, police said. The warning would hinder the man from entering the store for five years.

Police said the man signed the warning and left without incident; but, about an hour later, police were dispatched back to the store on an armed robbery call.

Again, both men were inside the store when officers arrived, but police said the man claimed to be the victim.

By the man's account, police said prior to officers arriving and issuing him the criminal trespass warning, Patel and a friend held the man at gunpoint inside the store and alternated searching his vehicle. Police identified the friend as Anil Yaganti, 25, of Marietta.

When the man signed the warning and left, police said he did not realize his handgun was missing from his vehicle.

While investigating, police said they noticed discrepancies in Patel and Yaganti's statements.

Furthermore, police said surveillance video confirmed the man's details and showed he was held inside the store for at least 25 minutes before Patel's initial call to 911.

Officers recovered the man's handgun from the property and returned it to him, police said.

The weapon Patel was accused of having was recovered and determined to be a replica SIG Sauer P365 bb gun, police said.

Patel and Yaganti were arrested on charges of aggravated assault, armed robbery, entering auto with intent to commit theft, kidnapping and false imprisonment, police said.

Officers additionally charged Patel with possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, police said.

They were both booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and are being held without bond, police said.