By Tia Lyons
Staff Writer
Two men are being held in the Union County Jail on felony charges in connection to an armed robbery that was reported May 30 at a local convenience store.
Derek Q. Brown, 22, no address given, and Jamecus Miller, 18, of Spearsville, Louisiana, had been wanted for aggravated robbery and theft of property after being identified as suspects in the robbery of Day & Nite, 1207 W. Hillsboro.
Arrest warrants were issued for both suspects. El Dorado police took Brown into custody June 5 at a residence in the 1300 block of West First.
Miller turned himself in a day later at EPD headquarters.
Both made their first appearances last week in 35th Judicial District Court — Miller on June 8 and Brown on June 6 — and were issued bonds of $250,000 each.
Brown faces an additional charge for a petition to provoke probation or parole. While in the Union County Jail, a second arrest warrant was executed on a misdemeanor charge of enforcement of fines.
On May 30, police were called to Day & Nite convenience store, 1207 W. Hillsboro, in reference to a robbery in which two suspects, one of whom had a gun, took an undetermined amount of cash.
Two males reportedly entered the store, having approached the business from the east, and yelled for everyone “to get on the ground.”
An employee said that only she and a relative were inside the store at the time.
She said the suspects ordered her to open the safe, and when she told them she did not have access to the safe, one of the males, who was armed with a handgun, told her to open the cash register.
The employee said she complied and attempted to activate the panic button, but the suspect pointed the gun at her face and told her not to touch the button.
According to a police report, he then ordered the second suspect, who was not armed, to grab the cash from the till, and the second male took a stack of $1 and $5 bills.
The armed suspect swiped several $20 bills and pulled the cash drawer, causing several coins to fall to the floor, the employee said, adding that the suspects then fled the business, running east.
The second woman who was inside the business provided a similar account of the incident, saying the suspects ordered her to get on the floor.
Police said surveillance video footage corroborated the employee’s description of the suspects.
They said the suspect with the gun covered his face with a red shirt, and the other suspect’s head and face were covered with a blue shirt with his eyes visible.
Both suspects were wearing black shorts, were average height and “athletically built.” Officers said they recovered evidence from the store and in the area that is adjacent to the business.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at [email protected].