A traffic stop Tuesday afternoon led to the arrest of a man in an attempted robbery at BB&T Monday night and an armed robbery at Fisher Auto Parts the evening of January 8.
Emmanuel Jones, 20, of Carolina Street, Roanoke Rapids, was jailed on $50,000 secured bond. He faces one count of attempted robbery, one count of robbery, one count assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, and two counts of injury to personal property. He has a February 6 court date.
Captain Charles Vaught of the Roanoke Rapids Police Department said shortly before 2:15 Tuesday afternoon Officer Joe DeSare was on routine patrol in the area of Seventh Street when he noticed a vehicle with an expired registration.
DeSare stopped the vehicle and while conducting the traffic stop noticed a rifle in the back seat as well as clothing matching the description of a recent robbery.
DeSare requested an additional officer and an investigator come to the scene. Master Officer Ryan Cross and Investigator Morgan Worrell responded.
Jones was transported to the police department for questioning while a search warrant was applied for an granted for the vehicle. That search revealed a .22-caliber rifle, gloves and a mask matching the description of the BB&T robbery attempt and the robbery last week at Fisher Auto Parts.
Vaught this morning could not say with certainty whether Jones might have been casing the two locations as they are across the street from one another off East Tenth Street.
On Monday night a victim was hospitalized after the suspect fired into a vehicle as they and another person were attempting to make a night deposit at BB&T.
The victim and another employee of an undisclosed business pulled up to make the deposit around 10:30 p.m. when a male suspect dressed in all black fired one round at the vehicle.
Vaught said the round entered the vehicle and struck the employee in the neck. The suspect fled and the employees went to the emergency room of Halifax Regional Medical Center. The wounded victim was transported to a trauma center for further treatment.
It appears the employees never made the deposit and the suspect fled without getting the money that was to be deposited.
According to the report, the name of the shooting victim is Delores Nowell, 44.
Family members told police the victim is alert and talking, Vaught said.
On January 8 at approximately 10:30 p.m., Sergeant M. Moseley responded to Fisher Auto Parts about a robbery.
The employee told Moseley after he finished unloading a truck he was approached by a man with a gun.
The suspect demanded money but when the victim told him he didn’t have any, he demanded the victim’s cell phone, which the victim handed over.
The two counts of injury to personal property against Jones reflect damage to the vehicle shot into at BB&T and damage to the victim’s cell phone from the Fisher Auto Parts heist, Vaught said.
There is no record of Jones in state Department of Public Safety files.
Vaught praised the work of investigators and DeSare on the case. “I would like thank the Criminal Investigation Division for working tirelessly to bring resolution to these incidents. I would also like to congratulate Officer Desare on a job well done. His attention to detail reflects great credit upon himself, the Roanoke Rapids Police Department, and the city of Roanoke Rapids.”
