Authorities said 19-year-old Jalen Bridgewaters tried to rob a Shell station on Satellite Boulevard on Oct. 21 when the clerk snatched his gun from underneath the partition and refused to give it back.
The Duluth man is one of three people charged in a string of armed robberies at Gwinnett businesses, Gwinnett police Cpl. Wilbert Rundles said Friday.
Instead of leaving the gas station after the gun was ripped from his hands, Bridgewaters allegedly pleaded with the clerk to give it back, authorities said.
He first demanded the firearm, Rundles said, telling the Shell employee he’d come back and shoot him if he didn’t return the weapon. When that failed, Bridgewaters allegedly changed his tune, telling the clerk he would leave the shop without robbing it if he could just get his gun back.
He eventually left the store empty-handed, but by then, police had arrived.
Authorities said they were able to link Bridgewaters to five other robberies, three that occurred Oct. 6 and three that took place Oct. 21.
Police also charged two Norcross men — 22-year-old Emmanuel Craig and 18-year-old Nicholas Abreu — in connection with the heists.
Most of the robberies took place in unincorporated Gwinnett, but one occurred in Lilburn and one in Duluth, police said. Authorities believe Craig was an accomplice to the Oct. 21 incidents while Abreu took part in the ones that occurred two weeks earlier, Rundles said.
Bridgewaters faces six counts of armed robbery, five counts of aggravated assault and four counts of false imprisonment. Craig faces two counts of armed robbery and one count of probation violation, and Abreu is charged with two counts of armed robbery, Gwinnett County jail records show.
All three remain held without bond.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Gwinnett detectives at 770-513-5300. Tipsters wishing to remain anonymous are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477 or visit the website.
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