2 main suspects arrested in brutal carjacking and beating of elderly woman
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - The Dekalb County Sheriff's Office arrested two more suspects in the violent beating and carjacking of a 74-year-old woman who was vacuuming her car at a gas station on Gresham road.
"The brutality associated with the assaulting of a 74-year-old woman should not be tolerated," said Major Jeff Leslie of the Dekalb County Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office said with these arrests, the community can breathe easier knowing two dangerous criminals are off the streets. Deputies arrested 20-year-old Atlanta resident Joshua Bryant and 19-year-old resident Tiffany Swanson early Thursday morning.
The Dekalb County sheriff said Bryant and Swanson were part of the crew that violently beat 74-year-old Rosa Smith--punching her repeatedly in the face. After the brutal attack, Deputies said the group took off with Smith's car and her dog.
"This is something we will not tolerate," said Dekalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox. "If you think you're going to intimidate the citizens of Dekalb County, we will pull out all our resources to take you into custody."
Deputies said these arrests took careful surveillance and several tips from the community.
"Those tipsters allowed us to locate one address, which we performed active surveillance on for more than one week," said Major Leslie.
Deputies arrested another teen, 17-year-old Aaron Johnson several days ago for his part in the beating and carjacking.
Deputies spoke with the elderly victim, and she told them she's thankful she has her dog back and that these people are behind bars.
"She stated that she was grateful for the arrest and she was grateful that sheriff and I, we stuck to our plan of action saying that we were gonna make sure these suspects were off the streets and they could not harm any other elderly individuals," said Chief Randy Akies of the Dekalb County Police Department.
Deputies said they are investigating to see if there are any other suspects associated with the case.