Accused Fake Robbery Suspects Facing Charges In Gwinnett Co.

NORCROSS, GA — Two people accused of staging a fake robbery at a Pirkle Road business are facing charges, Gwinnett County Police said Tuesday.

Officers responded around 4 a.m., April 5, to a business in the 1400 block of Pirkle, police said.

A woman, identified by police as 50-year-old Norcross resident Esperanza Marisol Chacon, told dispatch she had been robbed about three hours earlier while closing her business, police said.

Chacon said a man with a handgun forced her into the business and demanded money from the cash register, police said. She reported giving the man about $2,800, and the man left the scene, police said.

While investigating, detectives identified the suspect as 55-year-old Jonesboro resident David Cruz Galeano, police said. Galeano was arrested on April 15 by the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit, police said.

During interviews with Galeano and Chacon, detectives determined Galeano and Chacon "conspired and fabricated the robbery," police said. A motive is unknown.

Chacon was charged on suspicion of false report of a crime, theft by taking and party to a crime, police said.

Galeano was charged on suspicion of armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies, police said.

Both Chacon and Galeano remained incarcerated Tuesday at the Gwinnett County Jail, according to jail records.