iPhone tracking device leads to arrests in Midtown armed robbery

According to the Atlanta Police Department, a pair of men were arrested overnight after robbing several women in Midtown of purses and electronics, including an iPhone that had a tracking device that led authorities to the thieves.

Shortly after 11 p.m. on Thursday evening, APD Zone 5 units responded to a pedestrian robbery call at The Biltmore, located at 817 West Peachtree Street. According to APD Officer Kim Jones, five female victims told the officers they had been robbed at gunpoint in the driveway of The Biltmore by two male suspects. Both suspects pointed guns at the victims, at sometime during the alleged incident, one of the victims punched one of the suspects in the face.

The suspects then fled on 5th Street towards Peachtree Street with purses and electronics in tow. It was at this point that the iPhone tracking device was activated and it was tracked first to Zone 4 and then Zone 1. The Georgia State Patrol Crime Suppression Unit and APD Zone 4 officers became involved and tracked the phone to the Marquis Townhomes located at 1660 Stanton Road in southwest Atlanta.

The two suspects were then detained, before the victims were brought to the scene for positive identification.

Demarcus Smith, 22, and Jermaine Johnson, 20, were both subsequently charged with armed robbery and taken to the Fulton County Jail. According to Officer Jones, this is an on-going investigation as there may be more possible suspects involved.