DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A suspect is in custody after an hours-long standoff at a local Guitar Center store.
Several law enforcement agencies responded to the Guitar Center on the 1400 block of the Northeast Expressway in Brookhaven early Saturday morning.
Channel 2's Steve Gehlbach learned that a robbery suspect was spotted by a police helicopter on the roof of the business, but later went back inside.
The suspect was identified as Talawrence Slaughter, 30.
Just before 11 a.m., SWAT officers and a police K-9 deployed onto the roof from a bucket ladder truck and sniffed out the suspect hiding under a large box.
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Slaughter then was seen running but was later captured after the K-9 latched onto him. He was taken back to the ground where he was arrested.
Jesus Suarez said he first saw the suspect coming onto the construction site next door around 5:30 a.m. He said two men tried getting away with wheelbarrows full of spools of copper wire. One took off in a car and got away. He said the other ran to the Guitar Center.
“Other guy saw him run to the roof and called the cops, say he’s on top of the roof,” Suarez said.
But police knew they had him surrounded.
“We had visual of him still on the roof as units cleared the building, so we haven’t seen any activity outside the building yet so what makes us think he’s still inside,” Brookhaven Lt. Justin Young said.
Brookhaven police are still trying to confirm if the burglary next door at the construction site is related.
The suspect was taken to the hospital for the dog bite. Slaughter has been charged with burglary, criminal damage, felony obstruction and theft, among other charges.
Brookhaven police, along with the SWAT, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody and Johns Creek police responded to the scene.