A Lilburn man posed as a police officer and targeted men leaving a Brookhaven club, the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office said.
Tashod Kileaf Ford, 25, was convicted Aug. 8 of two counts of armed robbery, two counts of false imprisonment and one count each of possession of a firearm during the conviction of a felony and financial transaction card fraud. His trial lasted three days.
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Ford was on first offender probation for a 2011 burglary charge at the time of his arrest in this case, causing that probation to be revoked and requiring him to serve the remainder of the maximum sentence for that charge: 21 years in prison.
Ford received two life sentences plus five years for the charges in this case. In Georgia, defendants who have a prior felony conviction must be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of armed robbery.
On Christmas night 2016, two men left Club Maison Elan in Brookhaven and planned to meet up with a woman in Lilburn later that night. In the early morning hours of Dec. 26, they met the woman in Bryson Park.
After a few minutes, Ford, posing as a cop, approached the men and woman, accusing them of engaging in prostitution, according to a release from the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office. Ford put a gun to one of the man’s backs and forced him to lie face down on the ground. Ford took the man’s keys, wallet and phone, according to the release. When Ford approached the second man, the first victim ran until he saw a real police officer at a gas station. Ford also took the second man’s belongings at gunpoint and fled before the real officer could arrive, the release says.
Less than two hours after the robbery, one victim’s stolen credit card was used at a Walmart to buy baby formula, slippers and a big screen TV, the release says. Lilburn police used surveillance video to identify Ford’s car and track it back to his apartment. When police searched Ford’s home, they found the items purchased at Walmart and the items stolen from the victims.
Before sentencing Ford, Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Karen Beyers told him this was a “cold, calculated offense” that was “seconds away from being a murder case,” and that Ford “provides nothing useful to society.” Ford’s life sentences will run consecutively.
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