3 Toledoans jailed after store holdup

Police chase ends in car crash

1/4/2013

A robbery of a northwest Toledo convenience store, police chase, and car crash landed three Toledo men in Toledo Municipal Court on Thursday.

Omar Watkins, 25, of 629 Russell St.; Deandre Smith, 19, of 639 Avondale Ave., and Phillip Brown, 22, of 839 Carver Blvd. are all charged with aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

Watkins, for whom bond was set at $125,000, also is charged with failure to comply. Bond was set at $100,000 for the others. All three remained in the Lucas County jail later Thursday.

The trio are accused of entering the Stop-n-Go at 5013 Bennett Rd. about 7:37 p.m. Wednesday, all armed with guns, to commit a robbery, during which they forced a customer to the back of the store at gunpoint, according to court documents.

One robber went behind the counter and, after failing to open the cash registers, ordered a clerk to do so.

The suspects fled in a black Dodge Magnum that was spotted by a police officer at North Detroit Avenue and Pasadena Boulevard.

The vehicle’s driver sped off and was pursued by police until he crashed at Bennett and Dryden Drive. The three suspects fled on foot but were caught by responding officers.

Brown was out on bond from a breaking-and-entering case pending in Lucas County Common Pleas Court when he was arrested Thursday.