Atlanta police are asking for the public's help identifying two suspects accused of breaking into a gaming machine at a gas station and threatening an employee with a hammer during a robbery early Sunday morning. The holdup happened around 8:30 a.m. in the 1100 block of Metropolitan Parkway SW, and both suspects fled before officers arrived.
According to Atlanta News First, police said the two men broke into the machine and then turned on the employee, brandishing a hammer at them. The worker retreated rather than confront the pair, police said, and the suspects made off before anyone could stop them. Investigators have not released descriptions of the men, and the case remains an active, ongoing investigation.
Atlanta police have not said how much money, if any, was taken from the machine in Sunday's incident. The station notes the case is still developing as detectives work to identify the suspects.
A Pattern Of Gaming Machine Heists Around Metro Atlanta
Sunday's robbery is far from the first time thieves have targeted gas station gaming machines in the Atlanta area, though it's not clear whether any of these cases are connected. In a separate incident reported by 95.5 WSB, Atlanta police responded to an armed robbery on May 6 at a convenience store along Metropolitan Parkway, where two men were allegedly playing coin machines while an employee stepped away to the bathroom. In that case, 95.5 WSB reported one man smashed a coin machine with a small sledgehammer while the other pulled a gun and demanded cash from the register. It is unclear whether that incident is related to Sunday's robbery, given the differing details and dates.
Other gaming-machine robberies have surfaced across the region in recent years. Just before 9 p.m. on Dec. 30, a masked, armed man confronted a victim who was removing money from gaming machines at a Shell station on Salem Road in Conyers, making off with roughly $7,000 in cash on foot, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. Authorities released images of two persons of interest in that case, and Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta offered a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest.
Sledgehammers And Getaway Cars In Earlier Cases
East Point police faced a similar case on Dec. 15, when a man allegedly caused several thousand dollars in damage by smashing open a gas-station gaming machine with a sledgehammer, Atlanta News First reported at the time. After the break-in, he and a co-conspirator reportedly drove off in a black Acura MDX SUV, according to police. In another episode, two men were accused of breaking into gaming machines at a convenience store at 2674 Campbellton Road SW on June 21 and stealing money, again using sledgehammers to force the machines open — a case for which Crime Stoppers offered a $2,000 reward.
The appeal to thieves is straightforward: gaming terminals can hold thousands of dollars in cash, a detail that has fueled a wider wave of break-ins far beyond Atlanta. The Chicago Tribune reported last month that suburban law enforcement agencies around Chicago were working together to address a surge of smash-and-grab thefts targeting video gaming machines, with dozens — possibly hundreds — of restaurants, bars and gas stations hit from Lake County to Will County. One Green Oaks gas station on West Rockland Road was reportedly struck by five raiders in early September, the second time it had been targeted in about a month, per the same report.
How To Report Information
Atlanta police are urging anyone with information about Sunday's robbery to come forward. Tips can be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers through its website, the P3 app, or by texting CSGA to 738477. The Crime Stoppers tip line can also be reached directly at 404-577-8477.
