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DECATUR — Police are hunting two men who beat and robbed a victim inside a Decatur gaming parlor.
Written reports from the Decatur Police Department say the robbery happened around 10:35 a.m. Friday at Donna’s Video Slots and Poker in the 2800 block of North Main Street.
DPD Sgt. Brian Earles said officers arrived to find a chaotic scene with people arguing. “After securing the scene, we talked first to one person who doesn’t want to make a criminal complaint, doesn’t want to talk and isn’t very cooperative,” said Earles.
“But then he changes his mind and decides he does want to talk, and he does want to press charges.”
The 28-year-old man turns out to be the victim of a robbery in which he said he was accosted by two men after stepping into the gaming parlor to talk to his aunt who was gambling there. Earles said the victim described the two men following him inside and approaching him in an aggressive manner before chasing him behind the counter.
“He said the subjects pushed him to the ground and began punching him,” added Earles. “One of the subjects then took cash from his pockets. Officers saw the victim had a cut on his right elbow and swollen flesh on his right cheekbone.”
One of the robbers was also described by a witness as being armed with a semi-automatic handgun in his waistband, although the weapon was not used during the crime.
Earles said it was clear the victim knew his assailants from some previous encounter, but the victim refused to talk about the issue.
Joseph A. Williams faces preliminary charges of aggravated resisting a peace officer, obstruction of justice, possession of machine gun and weapon by a felon, aggravated discharge of a weapon and unlawful use of weapon, and attempted murder of a peace officer in connection with the shooting of a Decatur police officer on Jan. 8, 2022. READ MORE
William A. Hosea faces preliminary charges of reckless discharge of a firearm and endangering the life of a child in connection with the Jan. 6 shooting of a 3-year-old child. READ MORE
Randolph Hayes is pleading not guilty to a charge of burglary. Prosecutors allege he stole a landline phone and then tried to sell it back to the victim. He was on parole at the time after having been convicted of an earlier burglary offense.
Byron D. Theus Jr. is pleading not guilty to multiple counts of home invasion, armed robbery and aggravated kidnapping in connection with a home invasion the night of Nov. 20, 2018. READ MORE
Jetrevius O. Jarrett has been arrested on first-degree murder charges in connection with the fatal Christmas Eve shooting of Efrem O. Jones. READ MORE
Phillip J. Gehrken, 52, of Forsyth has pleaded not guilty to three alternate counts of first degree murder stemming from the July 11 fatal shooting of 51-year-old victim Kevin Cooper. READ THE STORY HERE.
Emmanuel White, 18, is charged in Moultrie County with two counts of armed violence, possession of a stolen firearm, unlawful possession of a stolen/converted motor vehicle, possession of methamphetamine and defacing identification marks on a firearm. READ THE STORY
Defendant was sentenced to 36 months probation in November after pleading guilty to possession of a stolen firearm in a plea deal that saw all other charges dismissed. He was also sentenced to 149 days in jail with credit for 149 days already served.
Aaron L. Hand, 33, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Jan. 20 after pleading guilty to a charge of committing aggravated kidnapping while armed with a knife. The case dates to Jan. 13, 2021, when Hand, a registered sex predator, tried to abduct a female customer of the Macon gas station where he was then working.
Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid
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Macon County Courts Reporter
Macon County courts reporter for the Herald & Review.
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Upset defendant also clashes with judge.
The Decatur Police Department seek the public’s help in solving a string of robberies, this week’s «crime of the week.»
Police say the suspect asked the clerk to ring up items and then pulled a gun.
He denies robbing one man and snatching a handbag from a woman.
The employee was not injured during the robbery.
Defendant took a plea deal that saw murder charges against him dropped.
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