Sacramento Man Accused In 2 AT&T Store Robberies: Cops

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — A Sacramento man accused of being one of three suspects in the December robbery and attempted robbery of AT&T stores in Sonoma County is in custody, police said Tuesday. Jerold Le Mon Scott Jr. was arrested last week for his alleged involvement in the attempted robbery of the AT&T store on Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa and the robbery of the AT&T store on McDowell Boulevard in Petaluma, Santa Rosa police Sgt. Kyle Philp said in a news release.

In the botched Santa Rosa incident, which was reported at about 6 p.m. Dec. 18, three suspects entered the store, brandished a gun and demanded items from the staff, Philp said.

"An employee noticed that a bullet got jammed in the ejection port of the firearm, so it would not fire," Philp said. "The employee refused to comply with the suspects' demands for money and other items. When the employee refused to comply with the suspects they fled the store with no property."

About two hours later, at 8 p.m., Philp said the same trio of suspects entered the Petaluma AT&T store, brandished a gun and "placed customers and staff on their knees and forced them to give up their phones and personal items."

The trio then fled in a red sedan, which was located a short distance away from the McDowell Boulevard store.

Police said the area was searched but the suspects were not found.

Detectives worked numerous leads based on community tips and physical evidence from both crime scenes, Philp said, and on Jan. 16, served several search warrants and collected more evidence allegedly related to the robberies.

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Law enforcement personnel with the Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Sacramento police departments, as well as Sacramento County Adult Probation, Sacramento County Juvenile Probation and the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, cooperated in the investigation, identification and apprehension of Scott as one of the suspects, Philp said.

Scott was located and arrested in Sacramento and booked into Sacramento County jail on suspicion of second-degree attempted robbery, second-degree robbery, assault with a semi-automatic firearm, and burglary, Philp said.

The search for the other two suspects continues, with a reward of up to $2,500 offered by the Sonoma County Alliance's "Take Back Our Community" program for information leading to their arrests and conviction.

Police encouraged anyone who witnessed either incident or has information on the outstanding suspects to call the Santa Rosa Police Violent Crimes Team at 707-543-3590.

Photos courtesy Santa Rosa and Petaluma police departments