APD's mounted patrol stops home break-in, runs down suspect

ATLANTA — Officers on horseback rode to the rescue when a man tried to break into a house.

Channel 2's Michael Seiden learned how the mounted patrol surrounded the suspect near Grant Park, like a scene from the wild west.

If you live in Grant Park, chances are you've passed by a familiar barn. The lieutenant who's in charge of the specialized unit gave Seiden a tour Tuesday, where he got a chance to meet the newest four-legged member

“He’s a 5-year-old, about 6-year-old thoroughbred,” Lt. Greg Lyon said.

His name is Gambit and he’s the newest member of Atlanta’s mounted patrol unit.

“We’re teaching him how to be a police horse on the street. He doesn’t have any experience patrolling city streets,” Lyon said.

But according to Lyon, the four-legged rookie is already making a name for himself.

“He has the makings of a really good police horse,” Lyon said.

The high praise comes just days after the specialized unit helped officers track down a suspected burglar.

The incident happened Friday morning during a training exercise in Atlanta’s Grant Park neighborhood.

“So that day, the four of us went out,” Lyon said. "Drifter, Magnum, Oreo and Gambit. (It was) just as a training ride to get Gambit familiar with what he’s going to encounter."

But just minutes after they left the barn off Cherokee Avenue, Lyon said a man in an SUV stopped.

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“He said, ‘Hey! I just got a notification from my Ring (security). There was someone trying to get into my house. My wife’s home alone,’” Lyon said.

The concerned neighbor, who lives on Mead Street, gave police a detailed description of the suspect.

And within seconds, investigators said they found Jacouris Perry roaming the streets
near Robinson and Park avenues.

“We surrounded him and ordered him to stop and take a seat," Lyon said.

Police arrested Perry, charging him with prowling.

“It was just perfect. Our training day matched just with our individual's call. And we were right there in the spot,” Lyon said.

That suspected thief never made it inside the home, but several neighbors said they saw him looking through the windows of other homes.

Seiden reached out to the family involved, but they declined to comment and refused to release the video.

Cox Media Group