Atlanta Journal-Constitution: ajc.com
Address:http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/wednesday/metro_c340092ba070e1e10082.html

Burglar’s luck worth about a plug nickel, Fulton police say
Craig Schneider – Staff
Wednesday, November 28, 2001

Derrick Van’s fortunes as a burglar turned on a dime Tuesday, police
said.

Van, 36, of Smyrna was burglarizing a home on Thaxton Road in south
Fulton County, police said. He’d used a screwdriver to open a carport
window about 11 a.m., and quickly carried out a television to his
burgundy Cadillac, police said.

Then he walked into a rear bedroom and accidentally dropped some coins
on the floor, said Fulton County police spokeswoman Wenda Phifer.
Bending down to pick them up, he saw a man hiding under the bed.

A frightened Christopher Daniel, 27, who lives there with his parents,
held a phone in one hand, and on the line was the Police Department.

In the other hand, Daniel held a .357 Magnum, among the most powerful
handguns.

Daniel fired five shots, striking Van three times, including the ankle,
thigh, and groin, police said. Within minutes, police arrived to charge
Van with burglary and take him to Grady Memorial Hospital. His wounds
are not life-threatening, police said.

If Van hadn’t dropped the coins, he well might have made a clean
getaway, said Phifer.

“He could have just walked out the door, because the guy under the bed
was too scared to confront him,” she said. The case remains under
investigation, but police do not expect Daniel will face charges, said
Phifer.

Another dramatic home invasion occurred late Monday evening when four
men, posing as security workers, forced their way into a room at
Homestead Studio Suites in Smyrna.

The men robbed the occupant at gunpoint and then stole his Mercedes,
police said.

Soon after, Cobb County police spotted the car on I-285 and chased it
onto Roswell Road, where police said the car crashed and the driver
fired several shots at the officers before running away.

Police later arrested one man, Raheem T. Smith, 20, of Atlanta, but the
other three remain at large.

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