Man to serve 10 years for using fake Glock to rob Arbor Place security guard
Douglasville GA April 25 2022 A Douglasville man will spend 10 years in prison for robbing and assaulting a mall security guard using a fake gun, the Douglas County District Attorney said Friday.
On Aug. 30, 2019, a man told officers he was in the restroom at Arbor Place mall when a man approached him from behind.
“The defendant then produced a handgun and pressed it to his neck and asked for the victim to hand over his wallet, money and his phone,” the DA’s office said in an emailed statement.
The suspect, later identified as Batrone Thompson, was able to steal the man’s pocket knife. The two men then “began to tussle” over the gun, investigators said. Thompson left the mall before Douglasville officers arrived.
The victim, who was not injured, was a security guard at the mall, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported after the incident. A few days later on Sept. 4, officers were called to a home on a report that a neighbor was being threatening. The caller told officers that the neighbor, Thompson, was the person responsible for the recent mall robbery, investigators said.
Officers executed a search warrant for Thompson’s home, where they found the gun used in the mall incident: a replica of a Glock, the DA’s office said. Thompson was charged with aggravated assault and armed robbery.
A two-day trial was held this week for 19-year-old Thompson, who was convicted Wednesday. He was sentenced to 15 years, including 10 to serve in prison, the DA’s office said.
“The citizens of our community deserve to be able to shop with the confidence that they are safe from threats and violence,” DA Dalia Racine said. “Today, the jury’s verdict made our community a safer place.”
