Commercial Burglary 600 Virginia Av

On Monday, March 30, 2020, Ofc. Singh was dispatched to 600 Virginia Ave (Extra Space Storage) for a business burglary.

Upon arrival the manager stated when she was doing her daily walk through when she came into work, 89 separate storage units were burglarized. The manager stated the locks of the units were damaged and some things were taken from some of the units. The manager notified the owners of the units via phone and they were advised to check their units out and to itemize their stolen property to report to police. Extra Space Storage provided the victims with a replacement lock.

The manager stated on Saturday, March 28, 2020 at 5:00pm, she rented Unit # 3018 who is the ALLEGED SUSPECT. He accessed his unit on March 29, 2020, with a U-Haul truck. Video footage shows the suspect going back and forth to the truck from 4:00pm - 8:00pm.

Due to COVID-19 the business did not make contact with SUSPECT the day he rented the unit. SUSPECT paid cash through the slot of the door. The video footage shows two black males on the basement floor and the main floor. Sgt. Daughtery advised this was a separate burglary for each unit.

CID Inv. Sutton (5636) and Ofc. Stanio both arrived on scene and further investigated. They reviewed the video footage provided by manager. ID G. Wood (unit 7305) arrived on scene and took pictures of the damaged locks, however, due to the surface of the unit, was unable to lift prints.

The employees of Extra Space Storage were advised to tell the victims to call the main precinct and report the burglary.

During the last few weeks one resident reports finding two flash drives (also known as USB drives or thumb drives) apparently dropped on the sidewalk on N. Virginia. Another resident reported finding one on Amsterdam.

After checking for scams online and discussing this with an IT professional, we have concluded that this is likely a scam. The idea is for you to take the flash or thumb drive home and plug it into your computer in hopes of finding information that will lead to the owner. However, it is likely that this device will install malware on your device to either access personal information or even to take control of your device and demand a ransom for you to regain access. 

A similar scam comes in the form of a letter that appears to come from a big box store like Best Buy. The letter offers a $50 gift card and you are encouraged to plug the enclosed flash drive into your device so that you can pick from a list of items to buy with the card. You can read more here. 

Our advice is threefold:

• Never plug a USB into your computer unless you know where it came from. If it is not yours or  was not given to you by a trusted source, don't use it.
• It's fine to try and be neighborly. Leave a note where you found the device with your contact information. In that way, if someone genuinely did drop it by accident, they can contact you, describe the device, and if it's a match, retrieve it. 
• Do call police and report what you found. The APD Cybercrimes Unit may be able to safely investigate the drive and link it to a suspect.

On June 9th Georgia will hold a primary election to select candidates for many public safety related positions. These include District Attorney, Fulton County Sheriff, and judges for Superior, Supreme and Probate courts. We are strongly suggesting that everyone stay safe and vote from home via absentee ballot. 

• Request an absentee ballot via this online form. You can technically request a ballot up until June 5th. However, we know that currently more people in the state of Georgia have requested absentee ballots than voted in the last election. As a result, election offices are overwhelmed. Don't delay if you want to receive your ballot in time to vote. 
• You can check on the status of your ballot request here. 
• As soon as you receive your ballot, complete it and return it in the enclosed envelope. It must be received no later than 7 pm on June 9th. 
• If you fear your ballot will not reach the election office in time, Fulton County is setting up drop boxes where you can drop your ballot without having to come in contact with others. The locations of these drop boxes has not yet been announced. 
• Also note that if you choose to vote in person, either early voting or on June 9th, there may be some changes to polling locations. The pandemic has resulted in some regular polling places being closed (i.e. schools) and there may be a shortage of poll workers due to many regular poll workers being in high risk groups for he virus. Check with Fulton County Elections for the latest information. 

• First is the new Performance Reporting Dashboard developed by Dorthey Hurst along with Fulton County to track judicial performance. It's not complete, but it's a start. 
• Also, see below in Quick Note for a report published by the Atlanta Police Foundation from the Atlanta Criminal Justice Commission addresses repeat offender data from 2019. This report speaks directly to the efficiency of judges in hearing cases in a timely manner and how repeat offenders are sentenced.

COVID 19 Resources Available

• Fulton County Government continues to provide new resources to support residents impacted by COVID-19. Departments are adding online services to keep residents engaged, informed and safe during this time. Information, resources and videos are also being added daily to Fulton County's COVID-19 information hub.
• Councilmember Jennifer Ide has also provided a host of information about the city's response to COVID-19. Read the latest newsletter, or visit her COVID-19 page on the District 6 website. 

2019 Repeat Offender Report of the Atlanta Criminal Justice Commission now available
Please find here the Executive Summary of the Atlanta Criminal Justice Commission (ACJC) 2019 Repeat Offender Report. The report is the work of the APF’s Atlanta Crime Research Center, under the direction of the ACJC (formerly the Repeat Offenders Commission).  A link to the full report can be found here.