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Fairburn cops nab bank robbersMon, 10/30/2006 - 10:30am
By: The Citizen
By JOHN MUNFORD For Fairburn Police officers E. Roque and Eddie Saavedra it was not the usual day on the beat. By noon time Tuesday the officers had apprehended two of the men sought in connection with the armed robbery of a Peachtree City bank just minutes earlier. The robbery at the Kedron Village Wachovia bank along Ga. Highway 74 was followed by a high-speed chase and the apprehension of two suspects as they emerged from a wooded area adjacent to Fieldstone Manor subdivision on Plantation Road. The suspects were identified as Mohammed Silliam, 19, and Gerald Wayne Lott, 19, both formerly of Maryland. Both will face federal charges in connection with the incident, and Silliam will also face charges from a Sept. 26 robbery of a Wachovia branch in Riverdale, officials said. Police are also looking for at least one more suspect who is believed to have gotten away in a second vehicle that was not involved in the pursuit: a white Ford truck. The heist occurred at the Kedron Village Wachovia bank right at noon. An unidentified man and woman were about to walk into the bank on the city’s north side when they saw two black males executing the armed robbery, Peachtree City Police Chief James Murray said. The woman called 911 as they followed the suspects from the bank to the nearby Amli Apartments, Murray said. She remained in contact with emergency dispatchers the entire time, relaying the type of car the suspects were in and the direction they headed, Murray noted. That brave action ultimately led to the suspects’ apprehension, Murray said. A Peachtree City officer was able to locate the suspects’ car after learning it had left the nearby AMLI apartments and was heading north on Hwy. 74. The suspects initially turned right onto Dogwood Trail and into the driveway to Glendalough Manor before turning around and getting back onto Hwy. 74 heading north, police said. An unmarked police unit was initially involved in the pursuit, joined by at least one Peachtree City marked patrol car and later a Tyrone unit, police said. The chase reached speeds of 100 mph as it passed Carriage Oaks Drive in Tyrone just seconds before the stop sticks were deployed and disabled the gray Lincoln Town Car near the Fayette-Fulton line, police said. The stop sticks deflated the front driver’s side tire of the vehicle, police reported. With the vehicle disabled, Silliam and Lott fled into the woods Fairburn Police Chief Charles Long and a swarm of Fairburn Police, along with officers from Peachtree City, Tyrone and Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, combed businesses and the wooded areas from Milam Road to I-85 in search of the suspects. Fairburn officers Roque and Saavedra were patrolling Plantation Road and Fieldstone Manor subdivision as part of the search. As Roque pulled up at the end of the cul-de-sac on Jaclyn Way he spotted two men who had emerged from the woods and entered the undeveloped portion of the subdivision. Roque left his vehicle and gave chase, calling for back-up from Saavedra, who was pulling up to the cul-de-sac one street to the south. During the chase Roque grabbed one of the suspects and ordered the second one to the ground just as Saavedra responded to assist. Silliam and Lott were taken into custody. Police recovered a sawed-off shotgun from the Lincoln, said Chief Murray. It is very likely that if a second vehicle was involved, it was the robbers’ plan to ditch the Lincoln and get away in the other vehicle, Murray added. During the bank heist in Peachtree City, one of the suspects was armed with a “long-barreled weapon.” Police have recovered a backpack from the heist with money inside. Other evidence was left behind at the bank, police said. Cash believed stolen from the bank was found near the car, police said. The two assailants in the bank were described as a black male and a Hispanic male, both wearing black hooded jackets and other black clothing. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is working on the case and Peachtree City police are sharing information with other area jurisdictions who may have had similar robberies occur, Chief Murray said. Hawk 1, the helicopter of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, also responded to assist in the search for the suspects on foot in the Fairburn area. Tracking dogs also were sent to the scene. login to post comments
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