Mobile police arrested two teenagers hours after three masked men held up a convenience store on Virginia Street at gunpoint, while a third suspect remained at large as of Wednesday morning. Officers booked 19-year-olds Paul Dukes and Quintell Winchester into Mobile County Metro Jail on Tuesday night on charges of first-degree robbery. According to Mobile Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Rains, Winchester attempted to flee from officers during the arrest and now faces additional charges of failure to obey and attempting to elude police.
First-degree robbery is a Class A felony under Alabama law, carrying a sentencing range of 10 years to life in prison for adult offenders. The charge applies when an armed robbery puts a victim in fear of imminent serious injury or involves the use or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, and prosecutors in Mobile County treat armed commercial robberies among their highest-priority referrals. The additional eluding and failure-to-obey counts, while misdemeanors, add to the potential consequences and reflect the flight that occurred when officers moved in.
How the Robbery Unfolded
The robbery unfolded around 11:30 p.m. Monday at Stadium Food Mart, located at 1301 Virginia Street. Investigators said three men entered the store, two of them armed with handguns, and demanded cash from the register. A cashier complied and handed over the money, after which the suspects also grabbed cigarettes and cigars before fleeing north on foot.
Late-night robberies of convenience stores are among the most dangerous crimes Mobile officers respond to, because a lone clerk faces multiple armed suspects with no backup nearby. The Stadium Food Mart sits in a commercial stretch of Virginia Street near Ladd-Peebles Stadium, an area of small businesses and residences where overnight traffic is light and stores stay open with minimal staff. The quick 911 call from the store that night set in motion the response that produced the arrests before dawn.
Police said the suspects wore blue cloth masks to conceal their faces, along with blue jackets and black pants. Matching clothing among multiple suspects is a hallmark of planned robberies, and investigators typically pull nearby surveillance video, track the flight path on foot, and canvass for witnesses within hours while trails are fresh. The description of the third man suggests some of the disguises may have slipped during the flight, aiding identification of the two who were caught.
The Manhunt for the Third Suspect
The suspect who remains at large was described as a Black man in his early 20s, roughly 5-foot-8 and about 150 pounds. Police asked anyone with information on his identity or whereabouts to contact investigators directly at 251-208-7211, or to reach out anonymously through the CrimeStoppers tip line at 251-208-7000. Tips can also be submitted by text using the keyword CRIME411 sent to CRIMES (274637).
CrimeStoppers programs across the Gulf Coast pay cash rewards for tips that lead to arrests, and the anonymity they promise has historically been critical in convincing witnesses to come forward in neighborhoods where residents fear retaliation. Detectives investigating the Virginia Street case had the benefit of two suspects in custody who could be interviewed, photographs and video to circulate, and a description of the third man to broadcast to patrol officers across the city.
Even with two arrests, the investigation stayed open. Detectives needed to account for the third suspect to close out the case fully, and the recovered evidence — including the stolen cash and cigarettes — had to be documented for prosecution. The suspects’ clothing and any discarded items along the flight path would become part of the record presented in court.
A Corridor Familiar With Overnight Crime
Virginia Street convenience stores have periodically been targeted in overnight robberies, and police continue to encourage business owners and residents in the area to report suspicious activity promptly. Investigators noted that the swift arrests of two suspects came directly from a quick police response after the initial 911 call, underscoring the department’s emphasis on rapid follow-up in armed robbery cases.
The Virginia Street corridor runs west from the older neighborhoods near downtown toward Wallace Drive and the Ladd-Peebles Stadium area, mixing small retail, service businesses, and residential side streets. Stores that stay open through the night are natural targets for armed robbers because they hold cash, keep limited staff, and sit away from the heavier patrols of the city’s main commercial strips. Police departments everywhere respond by urging clerks to comply during holdups, keep registers low, and preserve cameras — advice the Stadium Food Mart clerk appeared to follow to the letter by handing over the money without resistance.
Time is the decisive factor in clearing robbery cases. National law enforcement experience holds that arrests made within the first hours of an armed robbery are dramatically more likely than cases worked days later, when suspects have had time to dispose of clothing, weapons, and stolen goods. The three-man team that fled north on foot Monday night did so into a neighborhood where patrol officers were already converging, and the two 19-year-olds taken into custody were booked at the Mobile County Metro Jail on Government Boulevard before the night was over.
The Investigation Ahead
The case remains under investigation as Mobile police continue searching for the third suspect connected to the robbery. Detectives will process the scene, review surveillance from the store and surrounding businesses, and interview the two suspects in custody — interviews that often yield information about the outstanding man, both because of the dynamics among suspects and because cooperation can affect how charges are filed.
Prosecutors will eventually weigh the evidence against Dukes and Winchester in Mobile County District Court, where preliminary hearings establish whether the case proceeds to a grand jury. First-degree robbery cases built on armed store holdups are among the most straightforward felonies to prove when surveillance video, witness identification, and physical evidence align, though the masks the suspects wore add a layer the state must overcome through other identification evidence.
For the neighborhood around Stadium Food Mart, the episode served as a reminder of both the risks overnight businesses carry and the value of fast reporting. Police repeated their standing request: anyone who sees people loitering suspiciously near late-night businesses, vehicles idling in dark lots, or the kind of coordinated movement that preceded this robbery should call 251-208-7211 or leave an anonymous tip through CrimeStoppers at 251-208-7000 or by texting CRIME411 to CRIMES (274637). The department has consistently credited those tips, combined with rapid patrol response, with closing armed robbery cases before suspects can strike again.
Armed Robbery Response in Context
Armed robbery of a commercial business sits among the most serious non-homicide charges in Alabama’s criminal code, and the two-count structure of this case illustrates why. Beyond the robbery counts themselves, prosecutors routinely add any offenses committed during the escape — in Winchester’s case, the attempted flight that brought charges of attempting to elude and failure to obey. The pattern is common enough that suspects who run often end up facing a longer list of charges than those who surrender, a fact defense attorneys routinely explain to clients.
Being 19, both suspects were prosecuted as adults from the outset, with no juvenile court involvement. If convicted, they would face sentencing under the state’s felony guidelines, with prior records and aggravating factors — such as the number of victims and the use of multiple firearms — influencing where within the range their sentences fall. The third suspect, once caught, would face the same robbery charges plus any others the investigation supported.
What Local Businesses Can Do
Police advisory lists for convenience stores stress a handful of proven measures: high-quality cameras covering the register and entrances, adequate exterior lighting, limited amounts of cash on hand with visible signs saying so, drop safes, clear sightlines from the counter to the street, and two employees on shift during overnight hours when possible. Stores along corridors like Virginia Street that have adopted them have generally seen fewer armed attempts, since robbers overwhelmingly prefer easy targets with minimal witnesses.
The Mobile Police Department also encourages store owners to build relationships with the officers who patrol their beats. Familiarity between clerks and patrol officers speeds up reporting, improves the quality of the information shared after an incident, and makes the corridor itself less attractive to repeat offenders. In the case of the Stadium Food Mart holdup, the fast 911 call and the officers’ quick arrival did exactly what the department asks of both sides — and put two of the three suspects in jail within hours.
Anyone with information about the outstanding third suspect was urged to come forward through the same channels: investigators at 251-208-7211, CrimeStoppers at 251-208-7000, or the CRIME411 text line, with anonymity and possible rewards available for tips that lead to an arrest.