Video shows cops ram robbery suspect fleeing from Mall of Georgia after armed jewelry heist
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Gwinnett County police said officers shot a suspect who stabbed a Mall of Georgia Macy's employee after attempting to steal jewelry.
FOX 5 has obtained new cellphone video of officers performing a pit maneuver on the fleeing suspect’s silver pickup truck.
Investigators say the store employee is hospitalized with serious life-threatening injuries, while they expect the suspect to be okay.
A Gwinnett County Police Department spokesperson said someone reported a robbery at 11:20 a.m. in the jewelry department of Macy's. Police said a person was smashing jewelry cases and stealing jewelry.
"The suspect entered the store and began smashing the jewelry cases with a possible crowbar or some other similar object and stealing the jewelry," said Gwinnett Police Sgt. Jennifer Richter.
Police said the store employee was stabbed when he tried to intervene.
"One of the store employees intervened in an attempt to stop the subject from robbing the store, at that point the suspect produced a large what looks like a kitchen knife and stabbed the victim multiple times," Sgt. Richter said in a news conference.
The video obtained by FOX 5 shows a Gwinnett police cruiser striking the suspect’s truck at the mall entrance. Moments after the impact, a man emerges from the car and takes off on foot, when police shoot at him.
Police investigating outside Macy's store at Mall of Georgia in Gwinnett County on Sept. 2.
Police said officers shot the suspect, identified as 27-year-old Jose Reyes Serrato of Loganville, once in an intersection. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment where he was listed in stable condition. They say they opened fire because they believe he still had the knife and posed an active threat to the public.
He ran a short distance into a nearby shopping plaza parking lot before police caught up with him.
"Our officers engaged with him seeing that he was a current armed and dangerous presence in the area," investigators said.
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Back at the mall, Jared Meeker tells FOX 5’s Rob DiRienzo that he was shopping with his mom when they heard the commotion.
"The employee inside of Macy’s was like ‘Hey, everybody needs to get out now, hurry get out now there’s a robbery upstairs at the jewelry [area],’" Meeker recalled.
The mall closed for a short period of time, but there were no other injuries.
SKYFOX flew over the scene and saw a police presence outside the store.