BUCKHEAD, Ga. — The owner of a popular Buckhead bar where a man claimed he was drugged, kidnapped and robbed of more than $10,000 says he is ready to work with the police to put a stop to any criminal activity that targets his patrons.
Todd Pope, the owner of Five Paces Inn in Buckhead, told Channel 2′s Michael Seiden that he was stunned to learn what had happened, because he was never contacted by the victim or police.
The victim, 24-year-old Chandler Rebel, said he and his friend went to the bar in 2022, and he was then drugged, kidnapped and robbed of more than $10,000.
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“Eventually I remember waking up in a bathroom,” Rebel told Seiden during a Zoom interview Thursday. “I wake up there. I’m throwing up blood, violently, rolling around on a bathroom floor.”
Chandler said he reported the crime to police but so far, no one has been arrested.
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On Friday, Channel 2 Action News obtained APD records that show in the past year, nearly 56 customers have filed incident reports, including at least four cases where the victims told police that they were targeted by iPhone thieves who stole their passcodes, emptied their bank accounts and opened credit cards.
In a statement provided on Friday, a spokesperson for the bar released the following statement:
“Five Paces is aware of criminal activity occurring in and around Buckhead but is just hearing about these reports and incidents for the first time and has not been contacted by any of these individuals or the police,” wrote spokesperson Scott A. Minot. “Five Paces takes the safety of its patrons and employees very seriously and has police officers and door security at its doors on busy nights and will continue to improve upon safety.”
“Five Paces is not aware of any criminal activities taking place within its establishment and has no additional information or knowledge about any of these reports, " he added. “We encourage anyone that sees or suspects any criminal activity at or around Five Paces or the Buckhead area to please contact the police immediately. Five Paces will fully cooperate with any police investigation.”
This type of crime isn’t unique to metro Atlanta.
In fact, it’s become a nationwide problem, which is why Apple is now including new stolen device protection in its iOS 17.3 beta update which, when enabled, would require authentication through Face or Touch ID.
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