Two in custody, two more sought after store fight

A fight at the Circle K convenience store Oct. 1 in the vicinity of the annual Fairburn Festival turned out to be more than it appeared. In its wake, two Fairburn men have been arrested and two others are being sought.

Arrested Oct. 19 and charged with battery, making terroristic threats, riot and loitering and prowling were brothers Jeffrey Robinson, 19, and Fredrick Robinson, 18, according to Fairburn Police Chief Charles Long. Currently being sought on battery charges in the incident are 18-year-old Fairburn resident Cyril Sims, Jr., 18-year-old Palmetto resident Chris Malone and a juvenile, according to reports. The man targeted in the incident and later pressed charges, Long said.

The incident began as the victim, a Union City man, was exiting the Circle K on West Broad Street shortly after noon at the height of the festival. He told officers five males jumped from a blue vehicle and attacked him. Other males were present but only the five physically attacked him, incident reports said. Officers noted injury to the victim’s mouth, head and back.

Upon viewing the store’s video, officers said the tape showed many men running toward the victim as well as showing the attack, according to reports. Officers noted that the victim initially declined to press but did so the following day.

Jeffrey and Fredrick Robinson were both located Oct. 19 and arrested.

“At first inspection of the incident it looked like a normal fight,” Long told council members Oct. 24. “But when we looked at it on Circle K’s video tape, it was not just a normal fight. It was a planned assault related, we believe, to some of the drug sales going on in Lightning. We were able to identify the suspects and we had two of them arrested Friday.”

The incident was not a random act of violence, Long said Tuesday. “Given the close proximity to the thousands of people attending the festival and the premeditated attack at the Circle K, we consider this an act of riot designed either to provoke fear in the crowd present at the incident or to provoke a hostile response from the crowd,” he said.

“We’re making a statement here that we are not going to tolerate this type of activity,” Long said emphatically.

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