FBI Atlanta wants to thank the news media and Covington Police Department for helping us identify an armed robbery suspect who was targeting dollar stores in the Atlanta area.

After seeing pictures of the unidentified suspect in the news, Covington police detectives believed the suspect matched the description of a man they recently arrested and contacted the FBI.

Wayne Patterson, age 38, of Covington, was arrested by Covington Police after an armed robbery at Citi Trends, a discount clothing store, on August 17, 2018. Patterson has been charged by Covington PD and is a suspect in seven other armed robberies and faces potential federal charges in all eight robberies.

In a nine-day period in July, seven businesses in Rockdale County, Fulton County, and Clayton County were robbed. In all of the robberies the suspect brandished a firearm and demanded money from the cash register.

In addition to the Covington robbery, the FBI believes the suspect is responsible for the following robberies:

• On July 20,2018, at approximately 9:39 a.m., the suspect robbed the Family Dollar store located at 1830 Highway 138, Conyers, Georgia
• On July 21, 2018, at approximately 10:23 a.m., the suspect robbed the Dollar General store located at 2779 Lakewood Ave. SW, Atlanta, Georgia
• On July 23, 2018, at approximately 3:37 p.m., the suspect robbed the Family Dollar store located at 674 Highway 138, Riverdale, Georgia
• On July 24, 2018, at approximately 8:26 p.m., the suspect robbed the Family Dollar store located at 1245 Veterans Memorial Parkway, Mableton, Georgia
• On July 26, 2018, at approximately 8:24 a.m., the suspect robbed the Dollar General store located at 286 Highway 138, Riverdale, Georgia
• On July 27, 2018, at approximately 8:55 p.m., the suspect robbed the Family Dollar store located at 830 SR-138, Jonesboro, Georgia
• On July 28, 2018, at approximately 8:20 p.m., the suspect robbed the Family Dollar store located at 7132 Tara Boulevard, Jonesboro, Georgia

The public should be reminded that the above are merely allegations and that all persons are to be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.