GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A teenager is accused of firing a shot during an armed robbery after demanding the cashier come out from behind the protective glass.
Police say that cameras at the store, in the area and at the motel all helped identify him and arrest him within hours, Channel 2’s Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson reports.
The 17-year-old suspect just left headquarters within the last hour or so and is being booked into the jail as we speak.
It was a frantic search for him Monday morning after gunfire during the armed robbery.
Surveillance video caught the suspect pointing a gun with one hand and waving the cashier out from behind the glass with the other.
It happened shortly after 6 a.m. Monday at a Texaco on Singleton Road near Norcross.
“He started counting down while pointing the gun at the cashier and followed him,” said Cpl. Angela Carter of Gwinnett County police.
The cashier never came out.
“When he reached 10, he fired a shot at the plexiglass,” Carter said.
Police say he wasn’t inside long with the gun, and when he left, he ran toward Interstate 85 and toward a motel, which led to a standoff before his arrest.
“They then were able to track the male’s location based on cameras in the area and tracked him to the Red Roof Inn,” Carter said.
Video from the motel shows officers outside at around 10:30 a.m. near I-85 about a mile and a half away.
Officers were able to eventually convince the suspect to come outside.
He has been identified as 17-year-old Dearian Tucker, and he’s now in the Gwinnett County Jail.
Detectives say he never made it behind the plexiglass, where the lottery tickets and cash drawer sat. But they say he stole some small items.
The cashier never stepped out from behind that glass, and Carter said that is the main reason this ended the way it did.
“The cashier was not injured during this incident, though, thank God,” Carter said.
Tucker faces an armed robbery charge with more charges possible.
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