By Mark Woolsey

Marietta police say in a bizarre turn of events, two men originally labeled shoplifting “victims” turned out to be armed robbery suspects Sunday night.

Police were called to a liquor store on Franklin Gateway, about 6 p.m., on a shoplifting report. The store manager, a 31-year-old Smyrna man, told police that a 32-year-old Acworth resident, who had previously shoplifted from them, was back in the store.

Officers issued the Acworth man a criminal trespass warning, barring him from setting foot in the business for five years. They say he signed the paperwork and left.

About an hour later, officers were dispatched back to the business after an alleged armed robbery was reported. Authorities say the Acworth resident then told them that he was actually a victim, that before officers arrived and he signed the criminal trespass warning, the store manager and a 25-year-old friend from Marietta had held him at gunpoint while repeatedly searching his vehicle. The Acworth man says he left after signing the trespass warning without realizing his gun was missing from the vehicle.

Police questioned all three men, turned up discrepancies, and accessed store surveillance video showing the manager and his cohort had indeed held the Acworth man at gunpoint for more than 25 minutes before the store supervisor initially dialed 9-1-1.

Police say they found the Acworth resident’s gun and returned it to him, and also found the gun the store manager had brandished, a replica SIG Sauer P365 bb gun. The store manager and his friend were charged with several offenses, including aggravated assault, armed robbery, kidnapping and entering auto with the intent to commit theft. Both were being held in the Cobb County jail without bond.