Photo by Dan Whisenhunt

Two teenagers were robbed at the Beacon Municipal Center on Thursday, May 14. The recently opened center contains the city’s police department headquarters, its municipal court, a recreation center and the central offices for City Schools of Decatur.

Decatur Police Lt. Jennifer Ross said that police responded to a theft call at the municipal center at 5:30 pm. She said the victims, two teenagers, told officers they were playing on the Ebster basketball court at the rear of the Beacon Municipal Center when they saw a suspect “walk from the woods behind the court” up to their belongings that were on the ground. The suspect grabbed the backpack and a cell phone and walked toward the stairs leading to the City Schools of Decatur Parking lot off of Electric Avenue.

The victims told police they followed the suspect and one of them demanded he return the book bag and phone. That’s when the suspect allegedly lifted his shirt and showed “a gray item, believed to be a handgun, in his waistband.” The suspect fled toward West Trinity Place.

The victims fled and weren’t injured.

Ross said the suspect is, “a black male, approximately 18-25 years old, approximately 6 feet tall and 160-170 pounds, with a dark complexion, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head and face and dark jeans.”