Knife-wielding carjacker on the loose

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Neighbors are on edge after a string of robberies occurred over the last few days, all within a 1-mile radius.

The robberies occurred near the East Lake and East Lake Terrace neighborhoods in southeast Atlanta.

DeKalb County police said the most recent carjacking happened Monday around 10:30 p.m.

Bilal Whitest said he had just parked a rental car outside his home on Hillside Avenue when he saw that a young man was waiting for him and his girlfriend.

“(He had) a big kind of butcher knife that he was flashing this way and he had a little paring knife that was kind of like the size of his palm,” Whitest said.

TRENDING STORIES:

• Dozens of middle school students out with flu
• Family remembers final moments with mother, daughter killed in home
• Thousands of Georgians could lose food stamps next week

Whitest said he carries a knife with him at all times, but didn’t want anyone to get hurt over a car.

“I pulled my knife and I was kind of contemplating fighting it out, but I told her (his girlfriend) to get in the house and just threw the keys at him,” he said. “If his freedom means this little to him, he can have the rental car.”

The crime spree began with a carjacking on Thursday night, just down the street from the one that occurred on Monday.

On Friday night, someone carjacked a 16-year-old girl at knifepoint in front of her home on Tupelo Street.

On Saturday night, a woman on Memorial Drive said a young man with a knife broke into her home and threatened to kill her. The same night, a couple said someone with a gun stole their car while it was parked in a friend's driveway on Allendale Drive.

“It’s unnerving, especially when it happens in your front yard,”  Klarque Garrison, who lives in the neighborhood, said.

Garrison said he’s lived in the area for five years and it’s always been safe. He and his wife are now being extra cautious.

“She lets me know exactly when she’s coming in, so I can keep an eye when she comes up,” Garrison said.

Both DeKalb police and Atlanta police are increasing patrols in the area and sharing information to help catch the thieves.

Cox Media Group