Three teens arrested in armed robbery
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on June 27, 2006 1:53 PM
Three teenagers were arrested Monday night by Goldsboro police 20 minutes after an armed robbery of the Big Lots store at 1308 W. Grantham St. in the Little River Shopping Center.
Police also recovered a firearm that was used in the holdup. The .22 caliber revolver, valued at $250, had been reported stolen May 4 with about 50 other firearms from the Guns of the South store at 375 St. John Church Road.
Michael Shawn Hunt, 19, of Lake Wackena Road and Jonathan Nathaniel Brooks, 19, and Lewis Jamal Bell, 16, both of Dollard Town Road, were charged by Investigators Dwayne Bevell and Mike Moore with armed robbery and possession of a stolen firearm.
"That was great work by the patrol division," police Sgt. David Kelly said.
The three were taken before Magistrate Terry Hatch, who set secured bonds of $75,000 for Hunt and Brooks. Bell, who also was wanted on three outstanding arrest orders, was jailed in lieu of a $51,000 secured bond.
Bell had been charged with misdemeanor offenses in the theft from the Guns of the South store and had been released on bond.
A woman cashier told police that a black man, with his face covered, had entered the store at about 8 p.m., brandished a firearm and demanded money. They grabbed the cash and fled.
The three suspects were found in a church bus where the firearm and an undetermined amount of cash taken in the holdup were recovered.
Officers attributed the quick arrests to information provided by the cashier and another witness.
Kelly said information on the arrests and the stolen gun will be turned over to the Sheriff's Office, which is investigating the firearms theft.