Robbery suspect leads Gwinnett police officers to a human trafficking ring, both suspects arrested
By: -----
Duluth, GA - Gwinnett County Police Department investigators have arrested a Buford man on human trafficking charges, following up on a previous robbery case in Duluth.
Officers initially responded Jan. 20 to a reported robbery at 2000 Satellite Pointe in Duluth. Police said 28-year-old Changze Li let officers into the apartment, claiming there was a burglary or robbery in progress.
According to investigators, Li told dispatchers he saw someone walking around his home with a gun. "He saw somebody walking around the apartment with a gun," Cpl. Ryan Winderweedle of the Gwinnett County Police Department said.
Body camera footage released by the department shows Li letting officers into the residence. Once inside, officers heard glass breaking and encountered a man bleeding from his hand. Police said the man, identified as 40-year-old Dominique Gray of Winder, did not comply with commands and threw his phone at officers before being tased.
Gray was charged with reckless conduct, pandering, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, armed robbery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and kidnapping. Li was charged at the time with pimping and keeping a place of prostitution.
On Feb. 9, vice investigators said they located an online listing they believed was connected to prostitution, and the phone number matched Li’s known number. Investigators arranged an undercover meeting at an apartment in unincorporated Duluth.
Police said Li was found hiding in a room when officers made the arrest. He now faces additional charges of keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and human trafficking.
"It does not appear as anyone is living in this apartment and that this apartment is being used for solicitation," said Cpl. Ryan Winderweedle of the Gwinnett County Police Department.
Winderweedle noted the irony of the initial call, stating, "Not common for somebody who was pimping another individual to call police."
"They notice what they believe to be Li’s phone number pop up on other listings on websites for solicitation, so they conduct an undercover operation and that’s where they arrest Li again," Winderweedle said.
The news has left neighbors in the Duluth complex shaken. "It’s kind of scary to think about," said resident Dylan Carabia.
"It’s not common for somebody who was pimping another individual to call police, but maybe he panicked at that moment when he seen somebody walking through with a gun," Winderweedle said.
Li remains in the Gwinnett County Jail without bond.