Other suspect still at large

Two enterprising criminals nearly got away with an ATM from a Fayetteville gas station early Thursday morning, police said.

One of the suspects managed to escape a sheriff’s deputy who pulled up on the robbery, and Fayetteville police were actively working leads late Wednesday afternoon to identify and locate other suspects, according to police Lt. Beverly Trainor.

The two suspects had broken into a nearby medical office and pulled a fire alarm to create a diversion just before the 4 a.m. incident at the BP gas station at the corner of Ga. Highway 54 and Grady Avenue, according to sheriff’s Lt. Belinda McCastle.

Instead, they were foiled by a sheriff’s deputy who spotted them after they used a truck to ram into the gas station’s doorway.

When Sgt. Mike Jones pulled into the parking lot and activated his lights, the two suspects ran and Jones ran after them, eventually subduing and arresting one.

The other suspect got away on foot, and the sheriff’s department’s K-9 tracking team and helicopter unit searched the area but were unable to locate the second suspect, McCastle said. Fayetteville police were actively working Thursday morning to identify and locate the second suspect, officials said.

The bloodhounds followed a scent until it ended, likely indicating that the second burglar had gotten into a vehicle and left the area, McCastle added.

When Jones saw the burglars, he noticed they were lifting something to put back in the truck, according to his report. Nothing was immediately determined to be missing from the medical office, McCastle said.

The suspect Jones arrested was identified as Marquez Antoine Anderson, 19 of Atlanta.