Police: Armed robbers lead police on chase; crash near downtown connector

ATLANTA — Police say two men are in custody after they led officers on a chase following two armed robberies in Buckhead.

The crash snarled traffic along the downtown connector during the middle of rush hour.

The owners of Scottish Tobacco in Buckhead told Channel 2's Matt Johnson they were just feet away from one of armed robbers after they held up a Verizon store Monday afternoon.

“Everybody panicked here, believe me,” store owner John Asprakis said.

Police said gunmen held up the store on Piedmont Road at around 3:30 p.m.

Thirty minutes later, police said robbers pointed guns at employees at another Verizon store on Peachtree Road, about two miles away.

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“It doesn’t make me kind of want to hang out too long in certain areas. Just want to get in and go,” one shopper told Johnson.

Within 10 minutes, police spotted a gray Audi connected to the second Verizon store robbery, which took off when officers went to pull it over.

Police chased the car until it crashed into cars near 14th Street and the on-ramp to the downtown connector.

Channel 2 Action News was there as police arrested two people after the crash that also injured a driver caught up in the pursuit.

Asprakis said he's all too familiar with robberies inside of the shopping center near the first robbery Monday.

“We talked about installing some outside video cameras, and we're going to be adding a little more security in the store,” Asprakis said. “You don’t feel safe.”

He told Johnson that he and his business partner would like to see more security and policing to prevent the next robbery.

“This is Buckhead. People come here for safety and it's not that safe here,” Asprakis said.

Police have not released the names or ages of the suspects involved yet.

Store owners in the shopping center along Piedmont Road where the second armed robbery happened Monday told Johnson that it was the second armed robbery in the plaza in the last two months.

Cox Media Group