An Atlanta renter who had just moved into a southeast neighborhood says he wound up staring down the barrel of a gun while two women tore apart his air-conditioning unit for scrap, according to court paperwork. When he chased one suspect outside, a struggle left him with a head injury before the pair took off in a nearby SUV, the warrants state. Police later traced that vehicle to a scrap yard and arrested two women, according to investigators.
How investigators say it unfolded
According to Atlanta News First, arrest warrants identify the suspects as 48-year-old Chyneka Batista and her 33-year-old daughter, Alexis Avery. The paperwork says the 35-year-old victim heard floorboards creak, grabbed a hammer and went to check it out. That is when, according to investigators, Batista pointed a handgun at him. The man followed her into the yard, where the warrants say Avery was already pulling parts from the home's HVAC unit.
During the struggle that followed, investigators say Avery hit the victim with a pair of bolt cutters while Batista shouted, "Let go of my daughter!" The victim was left with a head injury, and the women ran to a waiting Nissan Rogue and sped off, the warrants state.
Neighbors told reporters the whole thing was jarring, especially given the location. One neighbor told WSB-TV, "It's crazy, because this is a dead end. It's only us right here. To come back here, you've got to be looking for something." Investigators say a third woman, believed to be the driver of the Rogue, was detained and questioned but had not been charged at the time, according to the station.
Police say the victim managed to jot down the SUV's license plate as it left. Officers followed that lead to a recycling yard on Blashfield Avenue SE, where they say the stolen HVAC parts had already been sold, Atlanta News First reported. According to the warrants, officers recovered a receipt from the yard and confirmed the payout: $24 for the pieces.
Batista was arrested on charges that include aggravated assault, first-degree home invasion, second-degree criminal damage to property, possession of tools for the commission of a crime and two counts of theft by taking, according to the warrants. Avery faces charges of battery, second-degree criminal damage to property, theft by taking and possession of tools for the commission of a crime.
Scrap laws and why police follow yards
Georgia law tries to keep this kind of scrap-metal theft from paying off for long. Recyclers who buy regulated metal must keep detailed records, take photos and use traceable payments for certain items, rules that are designed to help law enforcement spot stolen material, according to the Official Code of Georgia. The statute also lets officers put temporary holds on suspected stolen metal and inspect a recycler's records.
In this case, investigators say that paper trail from the Blashfield yard, including the receipt and documentation of the sale, helped tie the $24 transaction to the alleged theft. It is a small payout that still left a big footprint.
Both women were taken into custody after the traffic stop and remain under investigation, WSB-TV reported. The case adds to a growing list of incidents in which thieves target copper and other components in HVAC systems, often leaving homeowners with thousands of dollars in damage in exchange for just a few dollars in scrap. Court dates for the defendants were not immediately available.
