Armed robbery gets Austell man life in prison

An Austell man, Gregory Allen Scott, who had been previously convicted of armed robbery, has received life in prison for committing the same crime in January 2022.

Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady Jr. announced that a Cobb jury found Scott, 36, guilty of armed robbery and violating the Georgia controlled substances act. 

On the morning of January 15, 2022, Cobb police officers responded to reports of an armed robbery at the Exxon gas station at the corner of Atlanta and Austell roads, across from Dobbins Air Reserve Base. 

The DA said police officers determined an unknown masked man had come into the gas station requesting a pack of cigarettes at the counter before pulling a gun on the cashier and demanding money. The man then jumped over the counter and stole money from the counter, register and back office. He fled on foot toward the mobile home park located next to the gas station.

After Detectives pulled surveillance footage, they determined that the man had been in the gas station only minutes prior without a mask and wearing the same clothing, and he was also seen on surveillance smoking a cigarette by the front door. 

A long-time employee of the gas station watched the video of the armed robbery and told officers she recognized the male as Gregory Scott, a regular patron of the BP gas station nearby on South Cobb Drive. 

The DA said Detectives obtained surveillance footage of the BP gas station and saw Scott on it the same morning in a black Chevrolet Malibu with a woman who officers learned was fired from the Exxon for stealing. It was determined that the Chevrolet Malibu was owned by the mother of Scott’s child. 

Detectives tracked the vehicle on cameras and determined that minutes before the armed robbery, the Chevrolet Malibu was two miles from the Exxon gas station and driving toward the store. Upon Scott’s arrest on March 3, 2022, officers found methamphetamine on him. 

Witnesses testified during the trial as to their experiences during the incident. The jury saw the surveillance video and the firearm used for the armed robbery was presented during trial.

Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs sentenced Scott to a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole based on his prior convictions for armed robbery and kidnapping.