The Fulton County Police Department had their hands on one of the men accused of murdering a Villa Rica jewelry store owner weeks before the killing.

And they let him go.

Raphael Rucker is one of the four men accused of killing Mitch Mobley during a robbery at his store last week. But three weeks before that, Rucker was sitting in the Fulton County jail facing drug charges.

Rucker and several others were arrested during a drug investigation by Atlanta police at a home on Drummond Street.

Now the Fulton County District Attorney’s office is trying to figure out why the charges were dropped.

The police report says that on June 5^th, several people inside the home tried to prevent Atlanta narcotics officer from entering. Officer took more than 70 swings with an entry ram to get through the door.

When the cops got inside they found Rucker and seven other men, plus hundreds in cash, three guns and pound of marijuana.

One of Rucker’s friends told Channel 2 Action News that the Fulton DA dropped the charges because they didn’t have enough evidence to prosecute.

A spokesperson for the DA’s office says in an email “we are still in the process of researching the status of this case. We will follow up with additional information as it becomes available.”

Now Rucker’s friend wishes those drug charges would have stuck, because he’s in bigger trouble now.

“I think if they prosecuted them in the first place, maybe this wouldn’t have happened,” the friend said.

Rucker, Gregory Clifton and a 16-year-old are now facing murder and robber charges in Carroll County. Police are still searching for a fourth suspect.