Citizens Help Police Nab Burglary Suspect

The Villa Rica City Council will honor two residents for their roles in the apprehension of a home burglary suspect Monday.

Police say Sanchez Deangelo Simmons, 20, of Atlanta, was arrested after he allegedly broke into a home on Parkway Circle while the watchful neighbors were alerting authorities. The incident happened around noon Monday.

According to a police news release, a neighbor saw the break-in in progress and called 911 as a family member took photos of the alleged suspect.

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Having lunch nearby were several Villa Rica PD officers, including Chief Michael Mansour, who quickly responded to the scene to see the suspect running from the front door with a gun in his hand. The suspect got into a car parked in the driveway and tried to flee.

Police said Mansour used his patrol car to block the driveway but the suspect began to ram the car, then was able to drive through the yard. Officers chased after him on Mirror Lake Boulevard and then onto I-20.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Douglasville Police and Georgia State Patrol joined in the pursuit, which ended on I-20 near Fulton Industrial Boulevard. Police said Simmons threw his gun out the window during the pursuit; the gun was found on a golf cart path near the Mirror Lake subdivision.

The vehicle he was driving was reported stolen out of DeKalb County.

Simmons has been charged with burglary, two counts of aggravated assault on officers, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, theft by receiving stolen vehicle, fleeing and attempting to elude, and other traffic charges, police said.

Police said the citizens who called 911 and took pictures of the burglary were invaluable in catching the suspect.

“The caller told police she recently attended a Neighborhood Watch meeting hosted by the Villa Rica Police Department and that is where she learned what to do and look for in her neighborhood,” police said in the news release.

The helpful neighbors will be honored at Tuesday night’s city council meeting, the city said.

No one was injured in the incident.

Photos: Suspect burglar arrested on I-20; Villa Rica PD