The Rockdale County Sheriff's Office quickly caught and arrested a suspect following an armed robbery with a simulated gun early Tuesday morning in Conyers.

Just after 5:30 AM on Tuesday, Jan. 14, deputies with the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office responded to an armed robbery call at the Shell gas station located at 1437 Highway 138 SE in Conyers, on the corner of Iris Drive and 138.

The clerk told 911 dispatchers that the suspect had been in and out of the store for the past hour and that a deputy even spoke with the suspect outside of the store earlier that night.

The suspect then came back in, told the clerk he had a gun in his pocket, demanded money and threatened to kill the clerk. He left the area on foot.

Using the clerk's description, the deputy that had contact with the suspect a couple of hours earlier was able to give a lookout to other RCSO deputies and the Conyers Police Department with the suspect's name and identifying information.

Just after 5:45 AM, a Conyers Police Department officer spotted a person matching the description waking in the area of Iris Drive and Old McDonough Highway, just a block away, and detained him. When deputies arrived, they were able to confirm that it was the suspect and took him into custody.

"I want to commend deputies for their quick response and for being able to give a detailed lookout on the suspect within minutes of the robbery," said Sheriff Eric Levett. "Using that lookout, a Conyers Police Department officer was able to quickly detain the suspect. This was a great cooperative effort between the RCSO and CPD that was able to get an armed robbery suspect off the streets."

The suspect taken into custody is Naim Yahya Balad Shabazz, 33, of Conyers. Shabazz is currently being held in the Rockdale County Jail facing charges of Armed Robbery and Terroristic Threats and Acts.

No gun was recovered when Shabazz was taken into custody and at this time it appears that he simulated having a gun in his pocket.