Man beaten, robbed outside popular Atlanta shopping center

ATLANTA — Police released surveillance video of a man punched and robbed at a popular shopping center.
 
Police said the victim was on his cellphone outside the Barnes & Noble store at the Edgewood Retail District midnight Thursday when four men in a car pulled up and tried to take it. 
 
Surveillance video from inside the parking deck next door showed those men beating the man and robbing him. They eventually get away with his bag and wallet.
 
Atlanta police Sgt. Greg Lyon said the four men were in a white Mitsubishi Galant.
 
"He tried to ride off on his bicycle and that's when one of the males punched him in the face," Lyon said.
 
"They'll just snatch stuff. They'll break into your car, beat you up for whatever you got in your hand," said shopper Shekeena Hutson.
 
Hutson said she carries Mace for protection but isn't surprised to hear of a robbery at such a popular place which she says gives thieves plenty of targets.
 
"They see somebody walk out the store, some people walk out the store with money in their hands," Hutson said.
 
Atlanta police are looking into whether the men in the video are linked to other recent robberies, including one last week. Police released sketches of a man and woman they said robbed two people at gunpoint on Decatur Street. They think the crimes could be connected and said the robbers are often armed. 
 
"If you're surrounded and you're threatened with physical violence in a situation you can't overcome, the best advice would be to hand over the property," Lyon said.
 
If you have any information about the assault and robbery, you're asked to call Crimestoppers at 404-577-TIPS.

WSBTV