Cops Nab Alleged Dollar Store Robber

October 3, 2016 at 6:35 p.m.
Cops Nab Alleged Dollar Store Robber
Cops Nab Alleged Dollar Store Robber

By David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com

A Fort Wayne man involved in an alleged armed robbery of several Dollar General and Family Dollar stores was arrested Friday night.
Edward Joe Smith, 44, Fort Wayne, was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 7:45 p.m. Friday for robbery with a deadly weapon. His initial bond was set at $50,250.
According to a probable cause affidavit from the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office, Smith is being charged with robbery with a deadly weapon, a level 3 felony; and theft, a level 6 felony.
On April 4, a Warsaw Police Department officer responded to a robbery with a handgun at a Dollar General Store. The paperwork did not include locations of the stores.
The officer spoke with a store employee who said she was working the cash register when a white male with a black handgun approached her, laid the handgun on the counter with his hand on it and stated he wanted all the money from the registers. The employee gave him the money out of two registers, and the man fled with the $868 from the store.
The man was described by the store employee as wearing a black hoodie and black wraparound sunglasses, white tennis shoes and a light-colored jean jacket.
The officer then spoke with a store customer who was finishing her transaction at the register at the time of the alleged robbery. She stated a man approached the teller with a handgun, and she became fearful for her life. The suspect told her it was going to be OK and then pointed the gun at the store employee wanting all the money in both registers.
A third witness who was exiting a store next door said he saw a man matching the description of the robber run past the business. The witness said the suspect dropped a pistol on the ground, bent over and picked it up, and then continued running around the building. The witness found a piece of the gun that broke off when it fell, and WPD officers collected the piece as evidence.
Surveillance video from the Dollar General shows the black handgun in the suspect’s hand, according to the affidavit.
During further investigation, officers discovered another Dollar General store had been robbed at gunpoint on April 18 and the subjects were arrested in New Haven just outside of Fort Wayne.
The robbers were identified as John Smead and Smith, according to the affidavit.
Warsaw police have also looked into whether the suspects are connected to similar robberies in Angola and at least one other location.
A six-person photograph array was shown to both Dollar General employees separately, who immediately picked out Smith as the subject that robbed them.
The two cashiers at the Family Dollar also picked out Smith as the alleged robber.
Smead also told the Warsaw officer that Smith told him he had robbed a business, according to the affidavit.

A Fort Wayne man involved in an alleged armed robbery of several Dollar General and Family Dollar stores was arrested Friday night.
Edward Joe Smith, 44, Fort Wayne, was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 7:45 p.m. Friday for robbery with a deadly weapon. His initial bond was set at $50,250.
According to a probable cause affidavit from the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office, Smith is being charged with robbery with a deadly weapon, a level 3 felony; and theft, a level 6 felony.
On April 4, a Warsaw Police Department officer responded to a robbery with a handgun at a Dollar General Store. The paperwork did not include locations of the stores.
The officer spoke with a store employee who said she was working the cash register when a white male with a black handgun approached her, laid the handgun on the counter with his hand on it and stated he wanted all the money from the registers. The employee gave him the money out of two registers, and the man fled with the $868 from the store.
The man was described by the store employee as wearing a black hoodie and black wraparound sunglasses, white tennis shoes and a light-colored jean jacket.
The officer then spoke with a store customer who was finishing her transaction at the register at the time of the alleged robbery. She stated a man approached the teller with a handgun, and she became fearful for her life. The suspect told her it was going to be OK and then pointed the gun at the store employee wanting all the money in both registers.
A third witness who was exiting a store next door said he saw a man matching the description of the robber run past the business. The witness said the suspect dropped a pistol on the ground, bent over and picked it up, and then continued running around the building. The witness found a piece of the gun that broke off when it fell, and WPD officers collected the piece as evidence.
Surveillance video from the Dollar General shows the black handgun in the suspect’s hand, according to the affidavit.
During further investigation, officers discovered another Dollar General store had been robbed at gunpoint on April 18 and the subjects were arrested in New Haven just outside of Fort Wayne.
The robbers were identified as John Smead and Smith, according to the affidavit.
Warsaw police have also looked into whether the suspects are connected to similar robberies in Angola and at least one other location.
A six-person photograph array was shown to both Dollar General employees separately, who immediately picked out Smith as the subject that robbed them.
The two cashiers at the Family Dollar also picked out Smith as the alleged robber.
Smead also told the Warsaw officer that Smith told him he had robbed a business, according to the affidavit.
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