An alleged member of a gang that police have linked to numerous smash-and-grab blue jean heists and other crimes will be sentenced Friday on a robbery and shooting conviction in DeKalb County.
Dominique Copeland, 21, was convicted Wednesday of several charges stemming from a 2007 robbery of the Navy Blu clothing store on Flat Shoals Avenue in DeKalb, said Orzy Theus, a spokesperson for DeKalb District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming.
Copeland shot store owner Damion Holmes in the leg, and a DeKalb jury convicted him of armed robbery, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, Theus said. He said prosecutors believe Copeland is a member of the 30 Deep gang, which has been connected with numerous alleged offenses, including the murder last year of a bartender in Grant Park.
Copeland was arrested in July by Atlanta police after a high-speed chase. Atlanta police told the AJC at the time that Copeland was suspected of a smash-and-grab at a Midtown clothing boutique. They charged Copeland with felony obstruction, reckless conduct, auto theft by receiving, entering an auto and six counts of criminal damage to property in the second degree. That case has not yet been scheduled for trial.
Theus said that Holmes, the DeKalb clothing store owner, identified Copeland as his shooter from a list of suspects developed from the Atlanta investigation.
Copeland is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. Friday by DeKalb Superior Court Judge Michael Hancock.
Police believe other alleged members of the 30 Deep gang were involved in the shooting death of a bartender at the Standard Food & Spirits on Memorial Drive a year ago. Only one person, a teenager named Jonathan Redding, has been charged in connection with that case. His trial is pending.
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