Tuscaloosa Police Arrest Man Who May Have Used Drill to Rob Same Store 5 Times
Police in Tuscaloosa have arrested a man they believe armed himself with a cordless drill and robbed the same area convenience store five times in 16 months.
Stephanie Taylor, a spokesperson for the Tuscaloosa Police Department, said officers have responded to armed robberies at the Family Dollar Store on 14th Street five times since last spring.
Taylor said the store was robbed on May 4th, May 13th and December 5th 2021, on January 14th of this year and again this Thursday night.
This time, though, employees inside the store realized the suspect, identified as 31-year-old Irish Tyshawn Hunter, was carrying a cordless drill, not a handgun, and confronted him as he left the store with stolen cash.
Hunter and a store employee struggled at the door, where the suspect reportedly dropped the drill and some of the cash before fleeing from the shopping center.
Police already suspected Hunter in the first four robberies, Taylor said, and officers went to his residence after the Thursday night incident where they discovered some of the money that had just been stolen from the store.
Taylor said investigators have enough evidence to charge Hunter in connection to the two most recent robberies and additional charges are expected for the first three, which all took place last year.
Hunter was placed in the Tuscaloosa County Jail and is being held there without bond. His mugshot was not immediately available.
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