Atlanta Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Armed Robbery of Senior Citizens

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced a significant conviction in the case against 22-year-old Aaron Neil Johnson, who was found guilty by a jury for his involvement in two violent robberies targeting senior citizens. The jury delivered its verdict on April 1, 2024, convicting Johnson of Armed Robbery, Robbery, and Theft by Receiving Stolen Property.

On Tuesday, October 15, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Nora Polk sentenced Johnson to 20 years in prison, with 15 years to be served in custody without the possibility of parole. The remaining five years will be served on probation.

The charges against Johnson stem from a series of violent incidents that occurred between December 5 and December 7, 2019. According to the investigation, Johnson acted as a lookout while his co-defendant, Joshua Bryant, attacked a 74-year-old woman at a Chevron gas station located in the 2400 block of Gresham Road in Atlanta. At approximately 5:25 p.m. on December 5, Bryant struck the victim multiple times, causing lacerations to her forehead and upper lip, as well as a broken hip. Following the assault, the defendants stole the victim’s car, which had her dog inside. The dog was later recovered on the street, but the vehicle was never found.

Two days later, on December 7, a black Toyota Camry was stolen from a gas station in Fulton County by two men matching Johnson and Bryant’s descriptions. Just two hours after the theft, the same Camry was used in a carjacking at a Kroger parking lot on Covington Highway in Lithonia.

At around 4:45 p.m., Johnson approached a 78-year-old woman in the parking lot, snatched her keys, and jumped into the stolen Camry. The victim attempted to get into her Mercedes to escape, but Johnson threatened her with a firearm, ordering her to back away. Afterward, Johnson and Bryant fled the scene in the victim’s car, which was later found wrecked three days after the incident.

Johnson’s trial was marred by his failure to appear on the final day, resulting in a warrant for his arrest. He was apprehended on August 1, 2024, following a two-hour standoff with South Fulton SWAT and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, during which chemical agents were deployed to remove him from the residence.

Co-defendant Joshua Bryant pleaded guilty on September 1, 2023, to charges of Robbery and Aggravated Battery, receiving a sentence of 20 years in custody. Another co-defendant, Tiffany Swanson, who served as a lookout, also pleaded guilty the same day to Robbery and was sentenced to five years, with 430 days in custody and the remainder on probation.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Franklin Engram, with significant contributions from the DeKalb County Police Department’s Detective J. Kearney and Detective J. Berrones, along with support from victim advocacy and investigative teams within the District Attorney’s Office.