(Gwinnett County, Georgia) The Gwinnett County Police Department wishes to highlight its combined work with the FBI and other local departments to arrest a robbery crew that had terrorized auto retailers across the metro Atlanta area for months.  Those robberies included the deadly armed robbery at the O’Reilly’s store on Hamilton Mill Road on January 8th where former Gwinnett Sheriff’s Deputy Sergeant Felix Cosme was killed.

After Sgt. Cosme was killed, Corporal David Smith was assigned as the lead detective for the case.  On the night of the murder, he learned that the suspects fled the robbery scene in a Volkswagen Jetta.  Corporal Smith worked with Robbery Detective Justin Cofield and together they identified that the tactics and description of the suspects matched four previous robberies in Gwinnett County of other auto parts stores.  Det. Cofield had already been assigned as lead detective on those cases. 

Corporal Smith and Detective Cofield began scouring local surveillance cameras for the Volkswagen Jetta.  While trying to zero in on the Jetta, the robbery crew continued doing armed robberies of auto parts stores, including two more in Gwinnett, one in Roswell, Henry County, Athens, and Duluth.  As these robberies were occurring, Corporal Smith and Detective Cofield continued to gain more information on the Jetta until they were finally able to identify the exact vehicle.

After identifying the specific Jetta, the two investigators learned that one of the individuals associated with the vehicle, Prince Robertson, had been involved in a DUI stop by Braselton Police in December of 2019.  During that traffic stop, Robertson was driving a Toyota Camry, which was also used in the robberies.  When the body camera footage from that incident was reviewed, Corporal Smith and Det. Cofield identified two suspects, Robertson and Tavaras Norah. Robertson was arrested for DUI in that incident.  Norah was in the vehicle with him.  Masks and a gun were also located, which detectives believe were later used to kill Sgt. Cosme.

Since these robbery suspects were committing their crimes in multiple jurisdictions around Atlanta, the FBI provided agents for assistance.  The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department also provided round the clock assistance with surveillance.  While conducting surveillance on the two suspects on June 1^st, Det. Cofield and an FBI agent witnessed them commit another armed robbery at an Auto Zone in Dacula.  After confronting the two men, a car chase ensued where Robertson and Norah crashed off La Maison Drive in Dacula.

The two men fled from the crash resulting in an overnight exhaustive manhunt.  Robertson was arrested near the neighborhood the next morning while walking down the street and Norah surrendered that same day.

After the arrest, detectives were able to locate crucial evidence linking the men to these robberies and the murder.  That evidence also helped to link them to two other auto store robberies from 2017.

This investigation involved hundreds of hours of work.  The Gwinnett County Police Department wants to thank the FBI, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department, Athens Police Department, Cobb County Police Department, Roswell Police Department, and Duluth Police Department for the invaluable assistance that they provided in arresting this dangerous robbery crew.  The police department also wants to highlight the exhaustive and dedicated work completed by Corporal Smith and Det. Cofield in this case.

In the end, detectives were able to link these two men two 15 armed robberies.  The total cash stolen was $17,391 and 68 felony warrants were obtained.  Robertson and Norah are being held without bond in the Gwinnett County Jail.