A Floyd County man was arrested and charged with armed robbery Wednesday after his car was spotted in surveillance videos thanks to license plate-reading cameras.
Anthony Lavell Williams, 26, of Rome, was arrested at his home after Carrollton police linked him to the car used in an armed robbery July 5. During the arrest, police said they searched Williams’ home and found evidence connecting him to more than 20 other armed robberies across northwest Georgia. Most of the robbery targets were pharmacies, Carrollton police Sgt. Chad Taylor said.
Williams is implicated in a takeover-style hold-up at a Carrollton Walgreens earlier in the month.
According to the incident report, he forced an employee back into the store at gunpoint just before closing time at 11 p.m., then gathered the two employees and four customers and took their cellphones. After herding them into the store’s office, Williams allegedly had the manager open the safe. He took cash from the safe and drugs from the pharmacy, then led all six people to the parking lot, where he had them lie down at a distance from one another before he drove away, according to the report. Carrollton police could not say how much money or what drugs were taken.
During the investigation, Carrollton police used surveillance video from nearby businesses and their local Flock system to identify Williams’ car. Though the robbery suspect wore a mask, the car’s license plate helped the police identify Williams.
He is being held without bond at the Carroll County Jail on one count of armed robbery, but police expect federal charges in the alleged robbery spree.
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