A man accused of holding up a Texarkana, Ark., cellphone store last month has been formally charged with aggravated robbery and a weapons offense by Miller County prosecutors.
Rolston Lockett Jr., 26, allegedly entered the Metro PCS store at 809 East Street in Texarkana, Ark., at approximately 5:25 p.m. July 24, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account. Lockett allegedly left the store without conducting any business.
He allegedly returned at about 5:45 with a piece of cloth covering his hair but not his face. Lockett allegedly waited for the only other customer in the store to leave before pulling out a handgun and emptying the store's cash register of $402.
Texarkana, Ark., police were able to identify Lockett as a suspect in the robbery based on descriptions from the East Street store. The following day, employees who were victims of the robbery showed officers photos of Lockett from Facebook who they identified as the person who pointed a semi-automatic pistol at them the day before.
The same day, officers with the Texarkana, Texas, police department informed their Arkansas-side counterparts of contact with Lockett they had several hours after the July 24 robbery. Texarkana, Texas, officers reported that they responded to a disturbance call in a shopping center in the 2700 block of Richmond Road shortly before 9 p.m. Texas officers reported that Lockett was shouting profanities at his girlfriend and at officers.
A Metro PCS store is located in the Richmond Road shopping center where Lockett had contact with police several hours after the robbery of the Texarkana, Ark., Metro PCS store. Lockett allegedly told Texas officers he was at the Richmond Road store to pay a cell phone bill he had tried to pay earlier at the East Street location.
"Lockett's explanation for not being able to complete his business at 809 East Street was that some incident had happened which he did not explain further," the affidavit states.
While being detained in the Richmond Road shopping center parking lot, Texarkana, Texas, police patted Lockett down for their safety. An officer viewed Lockett's identification and noted that his wallet was "bulging" with cash. Lockett was not arrested but a video and audio recording of the contact between Lockett and Texarkana, Texas, police was captured by one of the officer's body cameras.
The recording was compared to surveillance footage of the Texarkana, Ark., Metro PCS robbery, which also included audio and video recording. Investigators concluded that Lockett is the man who robbed the Metro PCS in Texarkana, Ark., and the man who was the subject of a disturbance call in the parking lot of a shopping center where a Metro PCS is located in Texarkana, Texas.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell signed off on charges of aggravated robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon this week. If convicted of aggravated robbery, Lockett faces 10 to 40 years or life in prison. The weapons charge is punishable by a fine up to $15,000, five to 20 years in prison, or both.
Lockett is currently being held in the Miller County jail. Bail is set at $100,000.
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