Boynton Beach police have arrested two more men in connection with three armed robberies that occurred early Saturday at convenience stores in Boynton Beach, Jupiter and Stuart, police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater said Sunday afternoon.
Jason Louis, 19, of West Palm Beach, and Jartarus Walker, 23, of Greenacres were taken into custody Saturday night, said Slater, adding that her department had assistance from West Palm Beach police,.
Police also recovered the suspects’ getaway car.
Louis and Walker are in the Palm Beach County Jail, Slater said.
In the Saturday robberies, three suspects shot and injured a clerk in Boynton Beach, robbed a gas station in Jupiter, then opened fire on a police officer in Stuart, police in those three cities said.
Stuart police arrested two suspects Saturday in the same crime spree: Reginald Cornelius Gibson, 23, of West Palm Beach, and Luke Tafari Bowen, 20, of Riviera Beach.
Gibson faces charges of attempted homicide of a law enforcement officer with a firearm, robbery with a firearm and aggravated battery. Police accuse Bowen of attempted homicide of a law enforcement officer with a firearm and robbery with a firearm.
Saturday’s robbery spree began at 3:32 a.m. in Boynton Beach when a 33-year-old 7-Eleven clerk was shot at 7044 Hypoluxo Road. The clerk ran for an office in the convenience store when a man with a gun entered the store and demanded money, Slater said.
The suspect shot the clerk in the back and left the store, then returned with two more men and found a second clerk who was in the office calling 911, according to the report. They forced him to open the cash register and took an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.
The suspects’ faces were covered and they were wearing hooded shirts and gloves. Police didn’t release the name of the wounded clerk, who was listed as stable at a local hospital.
The next robbery came at 4:30 a.m. at the Circle K at 815 W. Indiantown Road in Jupiter. Three black men in hooded black shirts robbed the store and left without firing shots, said Jupiter police Sgt. Scott Pascarella.
The same suspects then headed to Stuart, where a police officer pulled into the RaceTrac gas station at 1755 N. Federal Highway at 5:19 a.m. as three men were robbing the store, Sgt. Marty Jacobson said.
Surveillance video from the gas station shows three men in black hoodies aiming handguns at a clerk and taking cash drawers from a register and a safe. As they were leaving, a Stuart police officer happened to pull into the parking lot.
“He more or less walked into it,” Jacobson said.
The men fired at least eight times at Officer William McGighan, who fired back with a shotgun. McGighan wasn’t hit. The three robbers escaped.
Two of the three suspects were captured a few hours later in a wooded area about six blocks south of the gas station, Jacobson said.
Police ask anyone who can identify suspects in the robberies to call Stuart Det. Michael Rice at 772-220-3918 or or if you’d like to stay anonymous and be eligible for up to $1,000 REWARD call Crime Stoppers at 800-458-TIPS.
(source: palmbeachpost.com)