An armed robber and his suspected accomplice from late Friday morning have now been booked into jail thanks to the quick action of East Precinct Community Engagement officers.
A delivery driver was heading back to his car on S 5th Street when a man appeared from behind the car and, at gunpoint, demanded the keys as well as his wallet and cell phone. The victim complied and was told to walk on. The robber, identified as Emmanuel West, 24, discovered that the car he had just gotten the keys to was equipped with a manual transmission, which he didn’t know how to operate. He, too, walked on, and then robbed a woman on Shelby Avenue who was waiting for a school bus to drop off her child.
The delivery driver flagged down a Central Precinct bike sergeant who broadcast the suspect description. Officers flooded the area and located West near S 6th and Sylvan Streets. He was taken into custody without incident.
Officers tracked the delivery driver’s cell phone to an apartment on S 5th Street and determined that a man there, Jesse Thompson Jr., 28, was West’s accomplice. Thompson is alleged to have provided West with the gun, and then got it back from him after the robberies. The loaded semi-automatic pistol was recovered from the apartment where Thompson was found. The victim’s wallet was also recovered nearby.
West is charged with two counts of robbery and felony gun possession.
Thompson is charged with aggravated robbery.
At the time of today’s arrest, Thompson was free on bond in connection with his November 2019 arrest on charges of aggravated robbery, three counts of aggravated assault, felony reckless endangerment, vandalism, and evading arrest.
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Emmanuel West, 24
Jesse Thompson Jr., 28