West End Beltline Officer Helps Recover Stolen iPhone, Arrests Suspect

Sgt. Gregory Lyon with the Atlanta Police Department shared information with Cascade Patch about an arrest made yesterday just off of the Beltline's West End Trail.

According to Lyon, "during evening watch roll call for the BeltLine Path Force, officers were given information about a robbery that occurred the previous evening around 10:30pm.  The victim, Ms.Lewis, was robbed walking along on the BeltLine after leaving the Shell gas station at 1355 Ralph David Abernathy.  She was physically assaulted and her purse was stolen."

After roll call, the officers dispersed, and Beltline Officer Butler was patrolling the BeltLine West End Trail on his bicycle when a suspicious person call was dispatched at the Kroger Shopping Center at 590 Cascade Road.  

"Officer Butler responded and encountered the robbery victim who explained that she had met a man in the parking lot who wanted to sell her cell phone back to her that was taken from her the day before," says Sgt. Lyon.

The suspects did not flee at the time, but rather was witnessed to still be lurking at the back of the Kroger parking lot.  The victim then was able to spot who she says was the "actual man that robbed" her.  

Sgt Lyon told Cascade Patch that the suspect, "tried to bolt after seeing Officer Butler but was quickly overtaken by the officer on his bicycle and apprehended."

The suspect in custody is 49 year-old Phillip Bright.  He is charged with Robbery and the Fulton County Sheriff's Office confirms he had a Sexual Battery warrant out as well.