Mobile police arrested two teenagers in June 2014 whom they described as part of a larger armed robbery ring that had targeted Waffle House restaurants across the city, capping an investigation that began when officers noticed a spike in cases starting in March.
Nelson Hayes, 19, and Demetrius Lockett, 18, each faced charges of first-degree robbery, said police spokeswoman Ashley Rains. Officers arrested Hayes on 12 counts of robbery, while Lockett faced three.
A string of restaurant holdups
Six Waffle House restaurants were robbed by the suspects or others tied to the ring, Rains said, with some hit more than once. Investigators did not believe anyone involved worked for the restaurant chain. "They knew there was cash on the premises," Rains said. "Once they hit one, they figured they were all the same."
An arrest after a chase
Hayes and Lockett were apprehended that Monday morning after officers responded to a reported robbery in progress at the Waffle House on Dauphin Island Parkway. Three suspects fled in a stolen Dodge Dakota that had been spotted at other robberies, police said.
Officers located the pickup on Interstate 65 and pursued it into the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction, where deputies joined the chase. The truck wrecked near the intersection of West Main Street and Branch Avenue, and one suspect escaped. Hayes and Lockett were caught after an extensive search of the surrounding woods and swamp, according to police. Both were taken to Mobile County Metro Jail.
Where the robberies occurred
Police released a list of locations where robberies were attributed to the pair, spanning much of the city:
- Waffle House, 3651 Airport Blvd. — first-degree robbery
- Waffle House, 3428 Springhill Ave. — first-degree robbery (multiple counts)
- Waffle House, 1754 Dauphin Island Pkwy. — first-degree robbery (multiple counts)
- Waffle House, 3761 Government St. — first-degree robbery
- Chevron, 5454 Ziegler Blvd. — first-degree robbery
- Circle K, 6111 Lott Road (Mobile County Sheriff’s Office)
A pattern that drew police attention
What set the case apart, in the department’s telling, was its scale and repetition. Rather than a single holdup, investigators described a coordinated series of armed robberies that concentrated on one type of target across several parts of Mobile, from Airport Boulevard and Springhill Avenue to Government Street and Dauphin Island Parkway. The clustering of cases, police said, was what first tipped them off to a ring beginning in March.
First-degree robbery, the charge each teen faced, is among the most serious property crimes under Alabama law, reflecting the use or threat of force during a theft. The dozen counts lodged against Hayes signaled how many separate incidents investigators believed they could connect to him as the inquiry advanced.
Rains indicated the case was not closed. "We know from footage that we have suspects that we haven’t identified yet," she said, referring to surveillance images gathered during the investigation. Police asked that anyone with information about the robberies contact the Mobile Police Department. The arrests, officials suggested, had disrupted a pattern that had unsettled workers and late-night customers at a chain long associated with round-the-clock service across the Gulf Coast.