Sheriff's department makes arrests in armed robbery, continues search for escapee

By By Georgia E. Frye / staff writer
Oct. 15, 2004
Two local men remain in local jails today after being charged with the armed robbery of four people in a Lauderdale County church parking lot last month.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said Thursday that the two men, one a 15-year-old, carried a sawed-off shotgun when they robbed the victims who were parked at Carmel Baptist Church at 1847 Highway 19 South. Sollie said the victims were not from Lauderdale County and were in the area to take shelter from Hurricane Ivan.
Sollie said that Garrod Javon Walker, 20, of 1294 Sandflat Loop Road, was arrested and charged with armed robbery on Sept. 20. Walker is being held at the Lauderdale County Jail with no bond.
Meanwhile, the second suspect, a juvenile, was arrested on Thursday. Sollie would not release the juvenile's name; he is currently being held at the Lauderdale County Juvenile Detention Center.
Sollie said the two suspects took about $600 from the victims. And he said sheriff's deputies have been looking for the juvenile suspect since the robbery.
In an unrelated case, deputies also continue to look for Cedric D. Smith, 28, a trusty who escaped in July from Hilltop House by slipping under a fence that surrounds the complex on Highway 39 North. Smith, who was serving a sentence for possession of cocaine, apparently ran down the hill and jumped into a waiting car driven by an unidentified woman.
The escape marked the first time a trusty has fled from the Hilltop House, where about 40 trusties live.
Sollie said he received information that Smith is out of state, but may be returning to Lauderdale County sometime soon. Smith is described as being 6 feet tall and weighing about 225 pounds.
Anyone with any information about the escape is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 917-8888.