East Cobb Crime & Fire

East Cobb bank robbery prompts lockdown of Wheeler High, East Cobb Middle School

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Fifth Third Bank Kroger Roswell Road, East Cobb bank robbery
Surveillance photos provided by Cobb Police Department.

An East Cobb bank robbery Thursday morning resulted in the short lockdown of two nearby schools as police pursued a suspect.

According to the Cobb County School District, the exterior doors to Wheeler High School and East Cobb Middle School were locked for about 15 minutes after Cobb Police began investigating the robbery at the Fifth Third Bank location inside a Kroger supermarket at 2100 Roswell Road.

The schools are located across the street from one another on Holt Road and 1.3 miles from the Kroger at the Pavilions at East Lake Shopping Center at Roswell and Robinson roads.

Police said the robbery took place shortly after 10 a.m., when a man walked into the bank and demanded money from a teller.

According to police, the suspect never showed a weapon and left the bank with cash on foot, through the shopping center parking lot, and possibly in the direction of Wheeler.

The suspect remained at large late Thursday afternoon. According to a CCSD statement, the lockdown was “done out of an abundance of caution” at the request of Cobb Police.

“There was never any threat at either school and both schools continued with instruction as normal,” the CCSD statement continued. “Student and staff movement within the building was never restricted.”

Cobb Police described the suspect as an Asian male, around six feet tall, with a husky build. He’s believed to be between 30-40 years old, and was last seen wearing a black hoodie, a black Washington Nationals baseball cap and jeans.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Cobb Police at 770-499-3945.

New Cobb police chief responds to officer incidents, vows to change training, community policing methods

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Mike Register, Cobb Police Chief
“We’re having some challenges,” Cobb Police Chief Mike Register told the East Cobb Civic Association Wednesday. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

Mike Register brought several pages of prepared remarks to Wednesday’s East Cobb Civic Association meeting as he aimed to lay out his vision as the newly named Cobb Police Chief.

After detailing his long career in the military and his return to the Cobb PD after serving as Clayton County Police Chief, real-time matters intervened to punctuate Register’s desire to make significant changes in the way officers are trained and how they deal with the public.

An hour before Register’s ECCA address at the East Cobb Library, WSB-TV reported that Lt. Greg Abbott, a 28-year Cobb PD veteran, had been placed on administrative leave after a dash-cam video revealed him making racially charged remarks to a female passenger riding in a car pulled over on a traffic stop in July 2016.

According to what was heard on the video, the white woman reached for her cell phone as Abbott approached, making a reference to police shootings. He said to her: “Remember, we only kill black people. We only kill black people, right?”

In the WSB-TV report, Abbott’s attorney said the officer’s comments were not taken in their proper context, claiming he was trying to defuse the situation.

Register, who succeeded retired chief John Houser in June, told the ECCA gathering that the officer’s comments were “hurtful,” and were “inappropriate in any context and not indicative of the values we’re trying to instill in the Cobb Police Department.”

At one point during his ECCA appearance, Register was summoned out of the room for a few minutes by County Manager Rob Hosack.

UPDATED, 4 p.m. Thursday: At a news conference on Thursday, Register and other county officials said Abbott would be terminated, adding that “it’s not the kind of decision we make lightly.”

On Tuesday, Cobb Police had to respond a WSB-TV report, based on a body-cam video, of an officer shooting at an unarmed teen eight times last November. That officer had already announced his resignation, and the Cobb District Attorney’s office recommended no charges.

Register said the video of that incident prompted him to call for changes in the Cobb PD regarding use of force and firearms training (The suspect’s lawyer is planning a lawsuit, according to the WSB-TV report).

After the second incident, Register admitted in his ECCA remarks that “we’re having some challenges.”

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East Cobb assisted living center worker charged in death of 91-year-old resident

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Sunrise at East Cobb

An employee at the Sunrise at East Cobb assisted living facility has been charged with murder after a 91-year-old resident there died on Friday.

Landon Terrel, of Powder Springs, has been charged with felony murder, aggravated battery of a person age 65 or older and neglect of a senior care resident. According to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records, he was arrested late Wednesday.

Cobb Police said Adam Bennett, 91, died on Friday at WellStar Kennestone Hospital where he was taken Tuesday via ambulance due to injuries suffered at the facility. Sunrise at East Cobb is located at 1551 Johnson Ferry Road, just north of Roswell Road.

Cobb Police said detectives concluded Bennett had been assaulted at the assisted living facility by someone on staff. (Here’s the information police have released.)

According to a Fox 5 report, the victim suffered broken ribs, a lacerated kidney, and a punctured lung.