PORTERDALE, Ga. - Porterdale Police Department, with assistance from the Newton County’s Sheriff Office, arrested a man inside the Porterdale Bar and Grill, located on South Broad Street, Wednesday, June 19.

The man, identified as Joe “Danny” Thompson, of Covington, reportedly robbed a BP gas station after an unsuccessful attempt at retrieving money from an ATM machine inside the Porterdale Bar and Grill.

The bartender reported Thompson attempted “to withdraw money from the ATM inside the bar; however, he was not able to due to lack of funds,” according to the Porterdale Police Department incident report. It was reported that Thompson proceeded “next door to the BP and shortly returned to the bar,” the report stated.

PPD Officer Ryan Boston arrived on the scene and located Thompson at the bar with a drink. Boston instructed Thompson to stand up; however, Thompson took the time to finish his drink before doing so.  

A search was conducted by Boston after Thompson was placed in handcuffs and a large amount of money, totaling $631.78, was found in Thompson’s pocket.

According to the PPD's news release, Thompson is currently being held inside the Newton County Jail. 

The money that was stolen from BP was returned to the gas station.

Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact Sgt. Charles Cook at 770-786-2226 or ccook@cityofporterdale.com.