Man arrested for 4 jewelry store thefts at Gwinnett County malls, police say
Jonathan Weston (Gwinnett County Police Department)
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Gwinnett County police have arrested a man accused of a chain of jewelry store thefts over the last few weeks at malls around the metro Atlanta area.
Officials say 32-year-old Jonathan Louis Weston of Cumming, Georgia, is connected to at least four robberies since Christmas Eve.
In the first robbery, officials say Weston entered a jewelry store at the Mall of Georgia and asked to look at some diamond earrings. After the manager handed over the jewelry, police say he took off running.
The next robbery happened three days later at a different store in the same mall and ended with the suspect stealing two different diamond earrings.
On Dec. 29, police once again responded to a call about a robbery, this time at the Sugarloaf Mills Mall. In this case, the suspect did a similar setup and stole a ring.
The total value of the jewelry stolen from the three robberies was over $39,000.
Officers were able to identify Weston after his next robbery at Sugarloaf Mills Mall on Wednesday. In this case, police say he ran off with a ring and pepper-sprayed a passerby who tried to stop him. Witnesses were able to capture the license plate of his car, and he was pulled over by deputies in Forsyth County.
Weston is currently in the Gwinnett County Jail after being charged with four counts of robbery and one count of battery.