Thursday, August 4, 2016

Joplin man arrested following armed robbery at 115 South St. Charles

(From the Joplin Police Department)

On August 4, 2016 at 05:54am officers with the Joplin Police Department responded to a residence at 115 South St. Charles for a report of an armed robbery that had just occurred. A male who was asleep in a vehicle at the residence was awoken by a male suspect with a handgun pointed at him. The male suspect assaulted the male victim and pulled him from the vehicle. He demanded entry into the house.

At the same time the female resident came out of the house and the male suspect entered the residence with the female resident. He assaulted her and pointed the gun at her demanding keys to her vehicle and her phone. The female victim gave her keys and phone to the suspect who fled on foot and didn’t take the vehicle for unknown reasons. He did however leave her phone behind in the vehicle. A description of the suspect was obtained and officers searched for him but were unable to locate him.

Later this morning, at 08:03 am our dispatch received a call from Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery, 415 North St. Louis. The caller, an employee, stated that a male with a knife just stole Ozark Memorial Park Truck, a white 2001 Dodge Ram 2500. Officers immediately began searching the area for the suspect and stolen vehicle. Less than 3 minutes after the call came in, at 08:06am, an officer with our department spotted the vehicle at Landreth and Hill. The vehicle accelerated away and a pursuit was initiated, involving multiple officers from our department. The pursuit ended 8 minutes later behind the House INC, 24706 Highway 171. (Just east of Stone’s Corner) The driver was taken into custody at that time without incident.

The driver was identified as James Williams, 46, Joplin and was identified as the suspect in both robberies. Charges are being submitted to the Jasper County Prosecutor’s Office for 2 counts of 1st Degree Robbery, 2 counts of armed criminal action, 1 count of felony resisting by fleeing and 1 count of felon in possession of a handgun. The handgun was recovered from the stolen vehicle and the knife was thrown from the vehicle during the pursuit and recovered.

No comments:

Post a Comment