Eatonton police arrest armed robbery suspect

Published 2:50 am Sunday, October 27, 2024

EATONTON, Ga. — A 38-year-old Eatonton man has been arrested in connection with the armed robbery of a McDonald’s in Eatonton, local authorities say.

The suspect reportedly used a fake gun to pull off the crime.

Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell identified the suspect as Quadrick Markee Griffin of the 700 block of Church Street.

Cardwell said he had dealt with Griffin on several occasions, and that he also goes by the alias John Boggie.

Griffin turned himself in to the Athens-Clarke County Police Department Saturday after the robbery and was later charged with one count of armed robbery, two counts of terroristic threats and acts and one count of misdemeanor theft by taking, Cardwell said.

The suspect is being held without bond in the Putnam County Jail in Eatonton.

Cardwell said the armed robbery netted the suspect a little more than $1,000 in cash from a safe inside the restaurant, located on the 100 block of Oak Street in Eatonton.

The robbery happened shortly after 5 a.m. Friday, Oct. 18, according to an incident report filed by Eatonton Police Officer Jeremy McClure.

The officer said shortly after he arrived, he talked with two employees at McDonald’s.

“They stated that when they arrived at the store to open for the day [they] circled the (parking) lot and parked their cars,” McClure said.

The employees said they did not see anyone around at the time.

The police officer said when the employees got to the front door and were about to enter, someone dressed in all black clothing came running toward the restaurant from the direction of another nearby business.

McClure said the employees shut the door behind them and ran to the manager’s office for safety.

“The suspect went to the same door the staff went through and used both hands to yank the door open before running through the store directly to the manager’s office,” McClure said in his report.

The suspect appeared to be wearing either socks or gloves covering his hands. One of them was yellow and the other was described as white.

He was also holding something in one hand.

“When he got to the back office, the staff said he held what they believed to be a gun to their heads and said, ‘Open the safe or y’all will die,’” McClure said.

The safe was immediately opened and the robber grabbed a money bag, as well as some other money from a till drawer, and ran out the back door of the restaurant.

Before the robber left, employees said he told them if they called police he would kill them.

During the investigation, employees said they believed they knew the suspect and later revealed his name to police.

It turned out to be same name as the suspect.

While police officers were securing the area and beginning to process the crime scene, Eatonton Police Sgt. Elijah James was searching a nearby area when he spotted a man fitting the description of the robber, McClure said.

The police officer said when James attempted to make contact with the man, he ran away. James ran after the man but the man managed to get away from him, McClure and EPD Officer Dillon Waldroup.