Man Arrested After Failed Knifepoint Robbery of West Tuscaloosa Gas Station

A Tuscaloosa man was arrested and charged with first-degree armed robbery after he reportedly tried to hold up a West End gas station with a knife on Thursday.

According to court documents filed on Friday, 20-year-old JiQuavion Emerson entered the Shell Food Mart on Culver Road in west Tuscaloosa on Thursday at around 7:15 p.m.

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Police say he followed a clerk behind the desk and pulled out a knife before pressing it to the employee and demanding money.

A co-worker at the service station was reportedly in a back room, heard the incident, and was able to emerge and defend the clerk, disarming and subduing Emerson until police arrived.

A large number of local law enforcement officers responded to the gas station on Thursday evening and found the suspect subdued. The entire incident was reportedly caught on surveillance cameras, and investigators had enough evidence to charge Emerson with first-degree robbery.

He was placed in the Tuscaloosa County Jail and remained there on Friday on no bond until a judge can review his case and determine if and where to set it.

For more exclusive coverage of crime and courts in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.