Arlington business owner accuses Police Department of failing to make arrests for repeated robberies

ARLINGTON – An Arlington business owner plans to close two of his businesses in the city next Wednesday in protest of what he said is “unequal protection under the law.” 

Sabu Jacob owns the Zip Trip and Good Sam Convenience Store in downtown Arlington. He’s owned businesses in the area for more than a decade. He said his Arlington businesses and employees have been repeatedly robbed and harassed by a group of men for more than a year, but the Arlington Police Department has failed to make any arrests, despite police reports being filed. 

In August, Jacob reported having lost $1,900, cigar boxes, cigarette cartons, and beer, in a letter to the GBI. These items were stolen from his shop and from his employees as they walked home at night, he said.

“I believe my businesses are being targeted specifically by these men because they know there will be no repercussions for them,” Jacob wrote in the letter. “One employee was so terrified he quit. I am worried that this criminal stalking will escalate and someone will be physically hurt.”

Two months after he sent the letter, his worries came true.

One of Jacob’s employees, Jiju Joseph, was pistol-whipped while walking home after closing Jacob’s gas station late at night on Dec. 23. In a letter to The Albany Herald, Peggy Cherry, Jacob’s property manager, enclosed a photo of the police report filed for the incident.

It reads that an officer responded to the scene of a robbery at about 9:40 p.m. The officer reported speaking to Joseph who had “slight bleeding.” A photo sent to The Albany Herald by Cherry shows a distressed Joseph covered in blood from a head injury. The report read that Joseph said a man with a sweater cap and a silver handgun with a black grip ran to him and demanded money from him. Joseph said the man hit him with the handgun, and Joseph gave him a bag of food. Joseph then ran to the nearby patrol car of an Early County Deputy to report the crime.

Joseph was transported to Miller County Hospital to be treated for his head injury. The area of the crime was checked for suspects that night. A black sweater cap with the letter “C” was found. 

The case is still under investigation.

Jacob first moved to southwest Georgia more than 20 years ago. He said he was attracted by the low cost to buy property and conduct business in the area. Now, he said his employees are quitting out of fear, and no one new wants the jobs they’re abandoning. He said he’s afraid the violence will escalate to loss of life, and he is on the verge of selling his businesses in Arlington. Jacob also owns more than 22 rental housing properties in the city, which he said he has put up for sale.

“It’s the same thing, the same people, and they (Arlington Police Department) don’t do anything,” Jacob said. “No more.” 

“If an armed assault and attempted robbery is not a priority in a town as small as Arlington, would you please tell me what would garner the title of priority?” Jacob wrote to the GBI in a second letter in January.

The businessman said he had no issues with crimes at his shops going unsolved until Jennifer Fairbanks became Arlington’s police chief in 2021. Fairbanks resigned from her position in Arlington in December and is now working as a deputy with the Terrell County Sheriff’s Office.

She declined to speak about the situation with Jacob’s businesses. 

“Arlington is a small town. We know the men who are doing these things,” Jacob wrote to the GBI in August. “We have brought it to the local police. They have declined to arrest the men. We were told that my employees did not make credible witnesses despite some instances being caught on camera. At the last meeting, Chief Fairbanks and her officer implied that my employees could be arrested for making a false report.”

After this letter was sent to the GBI, Jacob said he received two code violation notices from Fairbanks. Copies of these violations were sent to The Albany Herald as well as Cherry’s response to Fairbanks. He said he also had trouble obtaining business licenses for his two businesses in December after more than a decade of filing the same renewal information each year. Jacob said he believes these are repercussions for his complaints about the police department to the GBI. 

The GBI confirmed it’s not currently investigating this situation.

“I can’t believe that something like this is happening in the U.S. – the land of freedom and equality,” Jacob said.

Arlington swore in a new Police Chief, Jeremy Diehl, Tuesday night. Diehl was an officer with the Arlington Police Department before and said he worked on two of Jacob’s robbery cases. 

Diehl said the police department has nobody on video committing any crime, despite Jacob and Cherry saying there is video evidence.

He said he’s provided the victims with photo lineups of potential suspects, but they’ve been unable to identify anyone. He also said the reports from victims have been inconsistent. 

“When things start getting rough and you start asking the tougher questions, all of a sudden, they don’t speak English very well,” Diehl said. “I’m not saying they haven’t been robbed. There isn’t any question about that, but we’ve got to have evidence to make an arrest.” 

Jacob said he and his employees are all immigrants from India who occasionally struggle with the English language and are intimidated by law enforcement. He said other Asian-owned businesses in the area have faced crime as well. In December, another Indian-owned convenience store in downtown Arlington had cash stolen from it. That case is still open as well.

Diehl confirmed this. He also said it’s likely to be the same people committing the crimes because Arlington is a “small town.” 

The chief said the department is working on the problem. Right now, he is the only full-time officer in Arlington. Two open full-time officer positions were posted on the city’s Facebook page Wednesday. He said the small size of the department makes it hard to patrol the whole town.

Diehl said the department tries to have an officer parked close to downtown businesses at night to try to deter crime. 

“We haven’t given up on it,” he said. “We want to make an arrest. We want to get that guy off the street just as bad as they do.”

Arlington Mayor Jerome Brackins spoke with The Albany Herald about the issue. He questioned why concerns about Arlington’s former police chief weren’t brought to city leadership by Jacob. Brackins said the safety of Arlington’s business owners and employees is a priority and that he would have addressed the issue if it had been brought to his attention. He said he planned to reach out to Jacob about the situation. 

Jacob, meanwhile, said he is at his breaking point. The business owner was frequently brought to tears when describing the lack of recourse from law enforcement to The Albany Herald.

“Why is it taking so long for them to do anything?” Cherry, his property manager, asked. “This is Arlington, not Atlanta.”

Jacob said his customers in Arlington became his family. He said he knows his businesses – which are open late and even on most holidays – fill a need in the community.

“We love the people,” he said. “Everyone knows us, knows my children, but what can we do if we don’t have protection?”