Twenty grifters hailing from Georgia, snagged in a large-scale gang crackdown, are facing the heat for organized crime and other serious charges following a Cedar Park Police Department (CPPD) investigation, officials revealed. The sweep began last month when authorities were tipped off to an aggravated robbery that unfolded at Black Rock Vape in Cedar Park, according to KXAN.
An attendee from an Austin event reportedly fell prey to several men's query to buy "exotic flowers", and made the dire misstep of leading them to his workplace, resulting in a hold-up where his phone, cash, and vape products were swiped, police said. Cedar Park detectives pieced the crime together, tracing the rancorous trail back to a home in Georgia used by the gang for "violent crimes", a press release stated. Here, law enforcement unearthed an arsenal of weapons, drugs, and money.
The coordinated sting, executed on April 5 by CPPD detectives, the DeKalb County Police Department along with other agencies, targeted a house in Lithonia, Georgia, that was purportedly a nerve center for drug distribution and the hub for these crimes. Revealing the large inventory of illegal firearms and drugs confiscated, as reported by FOX 7 Austin, officers seized 20 firearms, and 60 pounds of mushrooms, among other contraband.
The arrests didn't just encompass the aggravated robbery, as violence too was in the mix. Four of the culprits were additionally linked to the murder of 27-year-old Nicholas Grierson, a tragedy that played out mere hours before their apprehension. Charged souls include 17-year-old Ashton George, Jakai Tyere Lewis, aged 18; and 19-year-old John Ben Frazier, all of Decatur, Georgia as well as Brandon Lovett Thomas, 31, from Brookhaven, as per KXAN. Their litany of charges spans aggravated robbery, gang-related misdeeds, and narcotics distribution in a cross-state saga that has yet to reach its legal conclusion, with the probe ongoing and indicators pointing to more charges en route, affirm CPPD.
