Three men are in custody following an attempted drug deal that turned into an armed robbery. Shortly after 11 p.m. police responded to the 4900 block of LaRoche Avenue on a report of an armed robbery. Complainants 19-year-old Kyle Hodges of Savannah and 19-year-old Calvin Williams of California said they were robbed at gunpoint while parked in the lot of the apartment complex.
Officers concluded that Hodges and Williams were being deceptive in their statements. Detectives arrived and concluded that Hodges and Williams had been robbed of marijuana and other items during an attempted drug deal.
While searching for the suspect, Savannah State University Police (SSUP) located 20-year-old Darius Harper of Savannah walking near a dumpster on campus. Harper fled but he was quickly apprehended. Harper could not be identified as the armed robbery suspect, but he was arrested by SSUP for Loitering and Prowling and Obstruction by Fleeing. Officers searched the dumpster where Harper was originally seen and they located clothing worn by the robbery suspect along with a pistol and an undisclosed amount of marijuana.
Due to the marijuana recovered from the dumpster and officers smelling a strong odor of marijuana coming from Williams' vehicle, agents with the Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team (CNT) were requested to respond to the scene. A subsequent investigation resulted in the seizure of a large amount of marijuana.
• A Savannah man released from prison in October after serving less than a year of a four-year sentence was back in jail.
Dominick Jerome Moore, 18, was arrested walking near the area where a 20-year-old man reported being robbed about 1 p.m. He was pushed into bushes, kicked several times in the head and abdomen and robbed of $9 at Jefferson and Alice Streets.
The victim gave police a detailed description of his assailant, including a tattoo and his first name. Moore was sentenced to four years in prison for an October 2010 burglary when he was 17. He had an extensive arrest record with SCMPD. He was released three months ago.
• An East Savannah man is arrested and charged for crimes in three of five precincts. Shawn Bannister, 35, of Oak forest Drive, was arrested January 24 on several charges. His crime spree started in November.
Bannister is charged with entering auto and credit card fraud from an incident in the Southside Precinct. On January 18, he was in Islands Precinct, caught on tape in Memorial University Medical Center's Parking Deck breaking into a car, and has been charged with an additional count of entering auto.The same day in Central Precinct, Bannister was found to be in possession of a stolen credit card from an entering auto that had just occurred.
• Two thieves are being sought after stealing a ring from a local jeweler. January 30, detectives were dispatched to Levy's Jewelers in reference to a theft. Surveillance video shows two men. One distracts the store employee while the other slowly opens the case and takes a ring out. The man holds the ring in his hand then puts it in his pocket as he leaves. The thief waves at the camera as he leaves the store. cs
