Stolen Glock with ‘switch’ found at Bojangles restaurant, police say a “dangerous criminal is off the streets”

What started as a routine complaint about someone lingering too long inside a fast-food restaurant ended with police seizing what they say was a stolen Glock converted into a fully automatic weapon, along with a second gun and a backpack full of marijuana.

In her report for FOX 5 Atlanta, Denise Dillon said Marietta police were called to a Bojangles on Cobb Parkway just after lunchtime Monday after staff reported that a man had been sitting inside for hours and refused to leave. By the time officers were done, 22-year-old Joseph Watson was under arrest on multiple felony charges and sitting in the Cobb County Jail without bond.

The details matter here because this was not a case that began with a traffic stop, a raid, or some major undercover operation.

According to Dillon’s report, it began because a business owner picked up the phone and asked for help removing someone who would not go.

That small decision may have prevented something much worse.

Officers Say Watson Tried To Slip Out The Back

Denise Dillon reported that when Marietta officers arrived, they did not all walk through one front door in a predictable line. Officer Chuck McPhilamy told FOX 5 that officers approached through multiple entry points into the business.

That appears to have mattered almost immediately.

Investigators told Dillon that when Watson saw police coming, he tried to slip out the back of the restaurant. But instead of getting away, he walked “right into the arms” of another officer positioned outside.

That is when the encounter changed from a loitering call to something far more dangerous.

According to McPhilamy’s account in Dillon’s report, the officer noticed the outline of a handgun in the front pocket of Watson’s hoodie and asked if he had any weapons on him. Police say Watson denied having any weapons.

Then, according to the officer, he immediately reached toward the very pouch where the gun was sitting.

That detail stands out because it suggests the danger here was not theoretical. The gun was not buried in a trunk or tucked inside a locked bag somewhere else. Police say it was loaded, within reach, and directly in front of the officer during the encounter.

The First Gun Was Reportedly A Stolen Glock With A “Switch”

Dillon’s FOX 5 report says officers grabbed Watson’s arm and secured the firearm before things escalated further.

Police then identified the weapon as a Glock that had been reported stolen out of Union City. But according to Marietta police, that was only part of the problem.

McPhilamy told FOX 5 the handgun had been modified with a “switch,” turning it into a fully automatic weapon. He said the gun had a round in the chamber and was loaded with a 31-round magazine.

That combination is what makes the case so unsettling.

A stolen handgun is already serious. A stolen handgun modified into a fully automatic weapon is something else entirely. Add a chambered round and a large-capacity magazine, and suddenly this is no longer just a suspicious person at a restaurant. It becomes the kind of case that makes people imagine how quickly a lunch-hour call could have turned into a public tragedy.

That is likely why McPhilamy used such strong language in Dillon’s report when he said, “Thankfully, this business owner contacted the authorities. This could have turned out very differently.”

That does not sound like routine police talk. It sounds like an officer who knows how bad the risk may have been.

Investigators Say They Found A Second Gun And Drugs

The Glock was not the only weapon, according to FOX 5.

Dillon reported that investigators also found a second gun and a backpack full of marijuana. Police told her the backpack contained multiple baggies already packaged for distribution, along with a larger bag described as additional supply.

That matters because it paints a fuller picture of what officers say they found.

This was not one illegally carried firearm and nothing more. According to the report, officers found two guns and drugs packaged in a way investigators associated with distribution. That is the kind of mix that tends to push a case deeper into felony territory very quickly.

It also makes the original call feel even more significant in hindsight.

Restaurant workers were not calling police because they suspected an armed suspect with drugs and a stolen machine-pistol conversion. They were calling because someone would not leave. But as Dillon’s report shows, small disturbances sometimes uncover much bigger problems sitting right in front of the public.

That is what makes the story stick.

Denise Dillon’s Report Shows How Normal The Call Seemed At First

One of the strongest parts of Dillon’s reporting is how ordinary the opening scene sounds.

McPhilamy told FOX 5 that it is “very common” for business owners to call police when someone is sitting or loitering inside for an extended period. In other words, this was not some unusually dramatic starting point.

It was a common complaint at a common place.

A man had been in the restaurant for hours. Staff wanted him gone. Officers showed up. That is the kind of call police departments probably deal with all the time.

But in this case, Dillon’s report makes clear that the common complaint was masking something far more serious.

That is part of what gives the story its punch. It reminds readers that not every dangerous arrest begins with obvious warning signs. Sometimes it begins with a manager or employee simply deciding they have had enough of someone refusing to leave.

And had that not happened here, the weapons and drugs police say Watson was carrying may have stayed hidden longer.

Police Are Calling It A Major Public Safety Win

The tone of Dillon’s piece is fairly straightforward, but the message from police is not hard to read.

McPhilamy’s comments to FOX 5 suggest the department sees this as more than just another arrest. It sees it as getting a potentially dangerous person out of a public place before anything worse developed.

That does not mean police know exactly what Watson intended to do. In fact, Dillon notes there are still things authorities do not know, including why he was in the restaurant for so long or whether additional charges connected to the stolen firearm may still be filed.

That uncertainty is important.

There is a temptation in stories like this to jump straight from “armed suspect found” to assuming some larger plot or imminent attack. Dillon’s reporting does not do that. It stays grounded in what police say they actually found and what they do not yet know.

Still, even without claiming more than the evidence supports, the danger looks serious enough on its own.

A stolen Glock modified to fire automatically. One in the chamber. Thirty-one rounds in the magazine. A second gun. Marijuana packaged for distribution. A suspect allegedly reaching toward the weapon after denying he had one.

That is already a heavy set of facts.

And it is not hard to understand why police are presenting the arrest as a clear public safety success.

Watson Remains In Jail Without Bond

According to Dillon, Watson is being held in the Cobb County Jail without bond. FOX 5 reported that he faces multiple felony charges, though a specific court date had not yet been announced at the time of the report.

That means the legal process is still in its early stages.

He still has to go before a judge for the next steps, and prosecutors will decide exactly how the case moves forward. More details may come out later, especially about the second firearm, the stolen status of the Glock, and whether Watson has any criminal history.

But even at this stage, the picture presented in Dillon’s report is already clear enough to understand why police are taking it seriously.

This was not a paperwork issue or a minor possession case dressed up for television. If the allegations hold, officers found a loaded stolen handgun converted into a machine pistol, another gun, and drug evidence, all after responding to what should have been an ordinary removal call at a restaurant.

That is the kind of case that makes officers, business owners, and ordinary customers think hard about how much can be sitting around them without anyone realizing it.

The Most Important Part Of This Story May Be The First Phone Call

In the end, the most telling detail in Denise Dillon’s report may not be the switch, the chambered round, or the 31-round magazine, serious as all of that is.

It may be the fact that none of this would likely have been discovered at that moment if the restaurant had simply tolerated the situation a little longer.

The business called. Police responded. Officers came in from multiple directions. One suspect tried to leave. One officer noticed the shape of a gun. And within moments, what looked like a loitering complaint had become a major felony arrest.

That is how quickly the tone of a scene can change.

And in a case like this, where police say the suspect was armed with a stolen fully automatic Glock and carrying another weapon as well, it is hard to argue with McPhilamy’s basic point: somebody made the right call, and because of it, a potentially dangerous situation ended in handcuffs instead of something far worse.