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LOCAL
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KHAMPIGNl
March 31 - April 6, 2016 • Page 16A
Lemon
Riascos
Couple charged in
rape, kidnapping case
by Andrew Cauthen
andrew@dekalbchamp.com
DeKalb County Police have arrested
a North Carolina man and College Park
woman in connection with two crimes
involving kidnapping, armed robbery and
rape.
Jaquan Lemon, 27, has been
charged with one count of rape, two
counts of armed robbery and two counts
of kidnapping. His alleged accomplice,
Tori Riascos, 21, was charged with theft
by receiving because police believe she
benefited from the robberies.
According to Cedric Alexander, the
county’s deputy chief operating officer for
public safety, a 27-year-old woman was
attacked on March 6 at 2200 Park Lake
Drive at Atlas LaVista Hills Apartments
when she got out of her vehicle.
“A male subject approached her from
behind and forced her into her vehicle at
gunpoint and robbed her,” said Alexander
about the.
Alexander said the suspect then drove
the woman to a nearby office park where
she was sexually assaulted.
“Shortly thereafter the suspect then
drove the victim back to the parking lot
where he first encountered the victim,
exited the vehicle and fled on foot,”
Alexander said.
Alexander said a second incident on
March 14 involved the armed robbery
and kidnapping of a 26-year-old female at
4310 Paces Park Drive at the Paces Park
Apartments in Decatur.
The victim “was exiting her vehicle
when a subject approached her from
behind, forced her into a vehicle at
gunpoint and robbed her,” Alexander said.
The suspect drove the victim to a
nearby gas station and “demanded more
money from her at gunpoint,” Alexander
said. Once he received the money, the
suspect fled the scene.
During the investigation, when
detectives contacted surrounding police
departments, they learned of a similar
incident in Atlanta involving the alleged
suspect.
“After comparing the Atlanta case to
one of our incidents,...detectives were able
to connect the two incidents,” Alexander
said.
On March 17, after obtaining video
surveillance of a suspect’s vehicle, the
investigation led detectives to a Red
Carpet Inn in College Park where Lemon
and Riascos were arrested, Alexander
said.
Police have not determined the
relationship between the two suspects,
Alexander said.
“Clearly they did have a relationship,”
Alexander said. “So it’s very well possible
that they may have been planning and
targeting some of these victims along the
way.”
The incidents are under investigation
and Atlanta police have taken out warrants
on Lemon, who has an extensive criminal
history, Alexander said.
After learning of the first incident,
DeKalb investigators were concerned that
“we may have an emerging serial robber
and rapist,” he said.
“When something of this nature—
we’re talking about a rape, a robbery, a
kidnapping—that is serious,” Alexander
said. “It [was] important that we try to get
ahead of any type of event such as this—
so serious in nature—to make sure we
stop it before it goes any further.
“This gentleman and his accomplice
were a real threat to this community in
the most egregious way,” Alexander said.
“We’re delighted to have them off the
streets.”
Sheriff's office
receives Triple Crown
accreditation award
by Andrew Cauthen
andrew@dekalbchamp.com
Once again, the DeKalb
County Sheriff’s Office
holds the Triple Crown
Award for accreditation.
The award, established
by the National Sheriffs
Association, recognizes
sheriff’s offices that achieve
simultaneous accreditation
from the Commission on
the Accreditation of Law
Enforcement Agencies,
the American Correctional
Association’s Commission
on Accreditation for
Corrections and the
National Commission on
Correctional Healthcare.
“It is rare that a sheriff’s
office simultaneously
holds all three national
accreditations,” said
DeKalb County Sheriff
Jeffrey Mann. “In fact there
are only 42 of the 3,080
sheriff’s offices nationwide
who hold this distinction.
“I am so proud of
the fact that our men
and women hold these
accreditations with such
great esteem,” Mann said
of his office’s 800-plus
employees. “They work
hard each and every day
to make sure that they are
maintained.”
Mann said the
accreditations represent
“literally hundreds of
standards that are
considered best practices
nationwide.”
“Achieving these ac
creditations individually is
a daunting task,” according
to a statement by the Na
tional Sheriffs Association.
“Acquiring all three at the
same time is an extraordi
nary feat. In fact, the Triple
Crown distinction is so rare,
that since the establish
ment of the award in 1993,
fewer than 100 sheriffs’ of
fices have qualified.”
The sheriff’s office
has maintained the Triple
Crown distinction since first
achieving it under former
Sheriff Thomas Brown in
2008.
The DeKalb County
Board of Commissioners
recognized the sheriff’s of
fice March 22 with a special
proclamation.
“We really appreciate
the hard work these three
[accreditations] represent,”
said Commissioner Kathie
Gannon. The Triple Crown
“means they’re going
through accreditation for
performance and account
ability standards every
single year.
“We are appreciative
and the people of DeKalb
County are very fortunate
to have law enforcement
agencies that are ranked
up at the highest in terms
of best practices,” Gannon
said.