A routine phone sale turned chaotic Wednesday afternoon at the Target on Pavilion Parkway in Fayetteville, where a snatched cell phone, a foot chase into the store and reports of a possible weapon forced employees to clear the building. By the time officers sorted it out, one man was in handcuffs and a second had slipped away before police arrived.
According to Fox 5 Atlanta, the incident happened around 4:45 p.m. when the victim met two men at the store to sell a phone. During the exchange, one of the men allegedly snatched the phone right out of the victim's hands, prompting the victim to chase him into the store. WSB-TV reports that Fayetteville police responded to the scene after receiving reports that a man had been chased into the Target by another man.
Target employees evacuated the building as a safety precaution, the station's report notes, after police initially believed one of the men involved may have been armed. It later turned out the victim did have a gun and lawfully possessed it, per police, but never pulled it out during the confrontation.
One Suspect Cuffed, Second Man Gone Before Police Arrived
The suspect accused of grabbing the phone was taken into custody inside the store, while the second man involved in the attempted theft ran off before officers got there, per the same account. Police released neither the suspect's age nor identity, and the exact charges he may face have not been specified. No injuries were reported in connection with the incident, and the case remains under investigation.
It is not the first time a phone transaction near the Fayette Pavilion shopping complex has turned into a street-level crime report. Back in 2013, The Citizen reported that Fayetteville police searched for a 20-year-old Hampton man suspected of stealing an iPhone from a 57-year-old woman outside an AT&T store at that same shopping center, in an incident that happened on Sept. 25 of that year at about 2:38 p.m. Two other people who allegedly aided in that theft were arrested after officers spotted a second vehicle involved, according to that earlier report.
For now, Wednesday's scare at Target appears to have ended without anyone hurt, even as one of the two men accused of trying to make off with a stranger's phone remains unidentified and at large. Fayetteville police have not said when charges might be filed or whether the second suspect has since been located.
