Car dealership GM pistol-whipped, held at gunpoint for hours in Cobb

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The general manager of a family-owned car dealership in Cobb County says a man pretending to be a customer pistol-whipped, robbed him and terrorized him for nearly two hours.

Channel 2′s Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was at the Mi Carro dealership in Smyrna, where Sony Santana said he was held at gunpoint for nearly two hours and thought he was going to die.

The whole thing played out like something out of a movie script.

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“I’m feeling devastated. Horrified,” Santana said. “I was thinking well this is going to be it for me. I began thinking about my family.”

Court documents show a long list of violent crimes committed by Chad Reaves, the man accused of beating and robbing Santana at the dealership

Reaves is now locked up without bond.

“When the guy pistol-whipped me there was blood all over my face,” Santana said. “He wanted money, plus a car. He didn’t get money but he ended up getting a car.”

It all happened minutes after Santana opened the doors for business on a Saturday morning.

“I was in my office here and I saw the guy coming in towards me,” Santana said. He thought Reaves was a customer. “When I went to say hi to him and everything I remember him saying hey help me get a car today. I said for sure man I can help you.”

Santana says he walked to the desk to get something and when he turned around there was a gun pointed directly at him.

“What happened next as he’s pointing that gun at you?” Newell asked. “I said, ‘Whoa. Chill. Calm down, what’s going on here?’ I was shocked,” Santana said.

Things escalated from there.

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Santana said Reaves yelled, “Where’s the safe? Where’s the money? I will kill you right now. I will you right now.”

It all happened in the dealership’s front office.

“He hit me boom, and then I fell here and there was blood splashing on me,” Santana said.

There are security cameras all around the business and police are using the footage of the crime as evidence.

Santana told Channel 2 Action News he’s already begun making changes to secure the place even more.

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