DECATUR — A Decatur man who helped a man who called him by name and had a sob story was robbed of $25 Friday evening, but he scared the man off when he tried to carjack his van, police said.
Detective Sgt. Chris Copeland with the Decatur police said the victim, was approached about 6:50 p.m. as he was driving toward the exit of the Kroger Store on West 1st Drive.
Copeland said the man motioned for the driver to roll his window down and called him by name, even though the driver told police he was sure he had never met him. Copeland said the man claimed he needed a ride because he wanted to buy a car battery, but a nearby garage wouldn't accept the pile of quarters he had to pay for it.
“And he adds that he is also going to be late for his mother’s funeral,” Copeland said.
The driver let the man in and was heading north when, Copeland said, the man began picking through spare change in the ashtray and then asked the driver for money. Nervous, the driver pulled into Mueller Park because he’d seen police squad cars parked there in the past and hoped he might find one.
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“The suspect then reaches all the way across him and took $25 out of his left shirt pocket and said he wanted the driver’s van,” Copeland said. “The driver said he couldn’t have the van and the suspect said, ‘I want the van or I will kill you.’ ”
But the man ran off when the driver put his hand up to his ear and began speaking as if he was summoning help by pretending to talk into a Bluetooth phone device. Copeland said the driver was uninjured after his ordeal.
The suspect was described by police as black with medium skin tone, 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-6, 120 to 130 pounds, and wore a brown coat and beat-up black boots. He is wanted on preliminary charges of robbery and attempted vehicular hijacking, Copeland said.
2019 mug shots from the Herald & Review
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Johnathan M. Radley
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Matthew Anderson Jr.
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Deion J. Sims
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Jonathan C.T. Owens
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Ricardo Q. Holloway
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Lamont D. Wright
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Johnnie L. Murphy
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Selley X. Tullison
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Romell D. Hill
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Austin L. Crist
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Leondous H. Coleman
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Terrance J. Wilson
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Tamme R. King
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Laurel A. Szekely
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John T. McKown
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Emmanuel Dunklin
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Zachary D. Batson
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Jason A. White
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Lewis Jackson
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Matthew D. Jackson
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Deonta O. Johnson
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Tyronn L. Ricks
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Jamaal Anthony Jackson
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Daiquan D. Cline
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Jose Luis Aboytes
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Damien O. McClure
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Tammy L. Leigh
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Rebecca J. Arndt
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Shannon J. Ward
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Jason F. Belman
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George H. Holmes
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Adam J. Frydenger
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Devante J. Hall
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Nathan C. Parnell
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Antwone L. Clemmons
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Lamentae R. Turner
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Joseph A. Baker
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Darelle D. Fox
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Joseph D. Fox
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Lewis Jackson
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Avante M. Flesch
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Brandon M. Diggs
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Alvin Bond
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Yaree S. Wiley
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Devonta M. Bond
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Lepolean N. Reasonover
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Ryan H.J. O’Neal
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Maurice K. Dozier
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Dustin Ellis
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Marcius V. Ferguson
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Aaron K. Greer
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Moses J. Ratliff
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Santonio Byars Sr.
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Robert N. Meola
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Craig L. Owens
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Jessica A. Logan
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Defendant was sentenced to 33 years in prison in July.
Zachary D. Batson
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Levi J. Goodman
Levi J. Goodman, 19, pleaded not guilty Nov. 13 to two counts of child pornography/solicitation of a child. He is accused of swapping explicit pictures with a 13-year-old girl. READ MORE
Matthew L. Rice
Matthew L. Rice is pleading not guilty to charges that he opened fire during a fight in the parking lot of the downtown Decatur Masonic Temple. READ MORE
Jarquez A. Hobbs
Jarquez A. Hobbs was sent to prison for 54 years on May 13, 2021. He was found guilty by a jury April 8 of invading the apartment home of a sleeping 5-year-old girl and snatching the child from her bed before raping her in the family’s dining room and forcing her to perform sex acts. READ THE STORY
James Ballard
James Ballard was found guilty of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated battery based on evidence presented in a bench trial. The convictions came from a Dec. 14, 2019, altercation in which Ballard stabbed a 35-year-old man who had stolen a TV from his apartment in the 500 block of West William Street. READ THE STORY
Kwantrevis D. Richardson
Kwantrevis D. Richardson was sentenced Monday to spend the rest of his life in prison for the brutal double murder of two Decatur men. READ MORE
