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Ex-Atlanta Police Officer headed to prison after robbing rapper in former uniform

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A former Atlanta police officer, Justin Mikale Thorne, has been sentenced to a decade in prison after he admitted being involved in a 2019 robbery of a rising rapper and another man while wearing his former APD uniform and badge. Thorne, 26, pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges in the armed robbery of rapper Bankroll Freddie, whose real name is Freddie Gladney III, and his cousin on Oct. 17, 2019, at a Smyrna hotel.

According to Thorne’s arrest warrants, the crime unfolded on October 17, 2019. Thorne was dressed as an APD K-9 officer and had a bulletproof vest, APD hat, and a police belt with a handgun. Thorne approached a room at the Comfort Inn hotel and identified himself as an Atlanta police officer to get the victims to open the door.  Once the victims opened the door, two unknown suspects rushed them brandishing handguns. Thorne pointed a gun at Gladney during the robbery. The victims had an iPhone and around $1,000 stolen.

Upon arrival, officers spoke with Gladney and his cousin about the violent encounter. They also view surveillance video which showed Thorne backing into a parking spot at the motel, where he appears to be talking with two men in a Toyota Camry. A few minutes later, surveillance photos and videos show Thorne dressed in his APD uniform, along with a badge and gun, walking around the fourth floor and serving as a lookout as the two men robbed Gladney and his cousin.

Thorne resigned from the APD two weeks before the armed robbery but still had access to his former uniform, badge, and gun. He was under an internal affairs investigation into allegations that he offered to take payment from a suspect with an outstanding warrant in exchange for making the warrant go away.

Rapper Bankroll Freddie, aka Gladney, is signed under the Atlanta-based label Quality Control Music, which also represents acts, including Migos, Lil Yachty, Lil Baby, Cardi B, and City Girls.

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