Gwinnett County police say they have connected a man to an armed robbery in which a business owner was followed and attacked outside his home, the latest in a string of crimes against Asian businesses in the county.
Emmanuel Rakestraw, 26, was arrested and charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault and burglary with intent to commit a theft in connection with the alleged attack, jail records show.
The number of crimes against Asian business owners have increased since March, according to Gwinnett police spokesman Sgt. Jake Smith.
The robbery Rakestraw is accused in happened in the early morning hours of May 26 at a home in unincorporated Snellville, Smith said. Smith said the suspect followed the victim home from his business, the Golden Express Chinese Cuisine restaurant on Wesley Chapel Road in Decatur.
According to an incident report, the victim left the restaurant just before 3 a.m. and got home about 20 minutes later. He saw a car following him and drove around the block, the incident report said.
The business owner told police he parked in his driveway and walked to his mailbox. When he walked back, he said a man wearing a black shirt pointed a gun at him.
The man ordered the victim not to look at him and took his wallet. It contained the business owner’s social security card, driver’s license, credit cards and more than $1,2000 in cash, according to the incident report.
The victim said the man hit him in the back of the head with the gun and knocked him out for a few seconds. When he regained consciousness, he said he saw the man run away and get into the passenger side of a white Mitsubishi with tinted windows and a loud exhaust. A silver car was nearby, he said. There were a total of four men between the two vehicles, he told police.
Detectives said they found evidence at the scene that connected Rakestraw to the crime. Smith said Rakestraw is also under investigation for gang activity. He was arrested at his home in Lithonia and booked into the Gwinnett jail, where he remains without bond.
The business owner also said he had been robbed at gunpoint at his business just six days prior, according to the incident report. During that robbery, a suspect hit him with a gun near his right eye.
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