SAVANNAH, GA (August 12): A 15-year-old boy was arrested after he robbed an undercover officer and fired shots at police Thursday night.
Anthony Jermaine Pridgen, 15, who was already on probation for simple battery from March of 2010, was arrested after a foot chase through The Oaks at Brandlewood Apartments about 11 p.m. He has been charged with armed robbery.
Undercover officers from the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police West Chatham Precinct Crime Suppression Unit, the SCMPD Neighborhood Task Force, K9 Unit and Tactical Reaction and Prevention Unit participated in the operation and targeted the large apartment complex after several pizza delivery drivers reported robberies there recently.
An undercover officer drove up and walked through the complex appearing to be delivering a pizza when cover officers saw Pridgen approach him. When the officer reported he had been robbed, take down officers moved in and Pridgen ran, firing his gun as he did.
Additional patrol officers from all precincts, canine, Special Weapons and Tactics and forensics units as well as detectives from the SCMPD Violent Crimes and Robbery units were joined by Georgia State Patrol troopers a police helicopter and gun recovery officers and dogs from the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office as the complex was surrounded and closed off.
Police were going door-to-door in search of the suspect when they were directed to the apartment where he was hiding. He was then taken into custody without incident and the gun used in the robbery and the cash taken in it were recovered.
Robbery detectives are continuing to investigate to determine if Pridgen had any connection to other similar robberies.
It was the second undercover operation in a week in the area. Last Friday a similar operation in the Southside Precinct off Abercorn Street allowed undercover officers to interrupt the robbery of several residents by a group of men who had been targeting Hispanic residents. Two men were arrested in that incident and robbery detectives contemplate charging at last one of the suspects in other incidents.
“It was a good combined operation that succeeded in taking a dangerous criminal out of circulation and making our community safer,” said Capt. Richard Zapal, who assumed command of West Chatham Precinct a month ago. “The officers who took part in the operation did an outstanding job. SCMPD will be conducting similar and other special operations as needed.”
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