Man’s 2nd trip to store nets robbery arrest

Published 6:00 am Thursday, December 28, 2006

A second trip Wednesday to the store a Brookhaven man allegedlyrobbed the night before resulted in his arrest on armed robbery andother charges, authorities said.

Tralaski L. Fleming, 28, of 1001 S. Railroad Ave., was arrestedWednesday on charges of possession of liquor, driving while licensesuspended and driving under the influence (first offense). An armedrobbery charge was added later after positive identification wasmade by the clerk working the night of the robbery, said BrookhavenPolice Chief Pap Henderson.

Fleming is accused of entering the Startown Mart at 11:25 p.m.Tuesday and demanding cash from the clerk. The robber neverdisplayed a weapon, but indicated he did, the chief said.

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“He had his hands in his pockets like he had a weapon in there,”Henderson said.

The man left the store with an undetermined amount of cash andcigarettes and ran across Monticello Street, the chief said. Theclerk was able to give officers a physical description of thesuspect, but they were unable to locate the man Tuesday night, hesaid.

The same clerk called the police department at 9:42 p.m.Wednesday night reporting the robber was back in the store – onlythis time as a customer. The clerk recorded the license tag numberof the suspect’s vehicle and gave it to the officers, Hendersonsaid.

A short time later, officers found the vehicle with Fleminginside.

Fleming, who matches the physical description supplied by theclerk, was initially charged with several violations of the law notrelated to the robbery. Later, following the clerk’s identificationof the suspect of the robber, the armed robbery charge was added,the chief said.

In an unrelated incident, officers responding to a 911 call ofshots fired made an arrest on a Hazlehurst man Wednesday night.

Lorenzo Dillon, 22, of 105 Larkin St., was arrested on anoutstanding warrant for burglary and charged with public profanity,disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon, Hendersonsaid.

“We made that arrest on him as being one of the suspects; and,in checking on him, we found an outstanding warrant for burglary,”he said.

Officers found a concealed 9mm handgun on Dillon during thearrest, Henderson said.

The shots fired incident that led to the arrest is still underinvestigation, the chief said.