Atlanta

Police search for 3 men after double carjacking in East Atlanta

Police are searching for 3 men who carjacked 2 cars in East Atlanta.

Someone carjacked an IRS agent and took both of his cars Tuesday morning. Within hours, police tracked down his stolen government-issued car and his personal car.

A witness told Channel 2’s Liz Artz that police spotted the stolen cars on city cameras.

“It was 7 a.m. I'm 10 minutes behind him. It could have been me,” witness Parker Lee told Artz.

Lee said he can't believe what happened on his quiet southeast Atlanta street.

“They popped up from behind the cover of his front porch. They were possibly in front of his car and kind of jumped him as they could. Before he had time to react, three people coming at you quick," Lee said.

Three teens, police say all armed, robbed IRS agent Joe Ziegler as he left for work.


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“The man had just got held up at gunpoint, you know, by three kids. (He said), ‘They got my wallet, my keys, my phone, took both the vehicles,’" Lee told Artz.

The agent’s personal BMW and his government issued Dodge Charger were taken by force. Police said the agent had his own weapon, but didn't pull it on the teens or fire a round.

"He keeps it on his chest, he doesn't have it on side or anything where you’d able to see it. It’s concealed." Lee said. “He told me he ran and hid in our backyard. As soon as they took it, he didn’t draw his gun. He carries a gun. He wears a badge. The minute they saw the badge, he thought, ‘I'm dead, they think I'm a cop.’"

The vehicles were found within hours only a few miles away.

"The cameras dinged in Zone 3, is what they (police) told me. They were like, ‘We’ve got to go.’ They hopped in vehicles and they were gone 30 seconds to minute," Lee

Police confirmed officers found the stolen car but they are still looking for the three masked gunmen.

"It's scary for me scary for my roommate. Everybody on the streets was kind of out asking questions. A lot of the families with kids they were terrified and I don't blame them," Lee said.

Police say because the three young men were wearing masks, no one got a good look at them but they are asking residents to give them a call if they saw anything that could help lead to an arrest.