LILBURN, Ga. — The Lilburn police captain who arrested an 18-year-old for robbing the same vape shop twice at gunpoint says the case is a warning for parents, even the ones doing everything right.
Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson was live in Lilburn.
Lilburn police arrested Patrick Cook last Wednesday after detectives say he hit the same Smok Box store on Lawrenceville Highway twice since April. A judge denied him bond on the aggravated assault charge.
“Armed robberies are rare these days because by and large we have turned into a cashless society,” said Capt. Scott Bennett with Lilburn police. “But for highly desirable and expensive items, armed robberies are still a thing.”
The first robbery happened April 17. According to arrest warrants, Cook pointed gun at an employee, leaped over the glass counter, filled a backpack with vape pens and ran.
He came back and did it again in the middle of the day on Tuesday, Bennett said.
“Same subject hit again, and we responded to the area immediately in force,” Bennett said. “We searched the area with canines and undercover personnel and came up dry.”
Detectives pieced together video from the store, neighboring businesses, and Flock cameras until they had a tag number and a name. They tracked Cook to his home and arrested him Wednesday afternoon with help from Duluth and Suwanee police.
Bennett says the conversation he had with Cook’s mother when she got home is the one he keeps coming back to.
“She’s been a very involved parent,” Bennett said. “It was sad to hear. This was not a parent who was asleep at the wheel.”
With summer break one week away, Bennett says the old advice still matters for every parent in Gwinnett County, even when it doesn’t always work.
“Talk to your kids,” he said. “Know who your kids are hanging out with and know who their friends are.”
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